Shooting Star
by Mai-chan63
Summary: Two years ago I wished people wouldn't be able to see me. I wished they would just leave me alone. It was always Kudo Shinichi this, Kudo Shinichi that. Solve this case for us, KID gave us a riddle, help us please. Every day. Then one day…I saw that shooting star and I still curse myself for making that wish…
1. Chapter 1

**Genre: **Romance, Supernatural, hurt/comfort, angst

**Rated:** T

**Word count: **1,468

Enjoy ^.^

**Chapter 1 **

**- I would rather posses eyes that know no sight, ears that know no sound, hands that know no touch than a heart that knows no love -**

He stood there in the cold rain, watching three children play with a soccer ball in the growing puddles. They laughed as one of them fell on his butt right in the middle of a rather large one, making the water splash up. How long had it been since he had last touched a soccer ball? Long, that's all he knew. The only place he would've been able to play with it was the Kudo mansion, but his parents have been living there again for one and a half year now. If he didn't want to freak them out he shouldn't even try. They already had enough to deal with and thinking the ghost of their son came to the mansion to play soccer would probably end up with his mother going to the funny farm.

Two years ago he, Kudo Shinichi, disappeared from the face of the earth. He was a famous high school detective, who had loved the attention he had gotten when he was a child, but when he grew up he slowly began to hate it. He hated the nickname given to him, 'the savior of the police'. Savior his ass… He was just doing their dirty work. If they couldn't solve a murder within two hours it was; 'Let's call Kudo-kun!'. If they couldn't understand Kaitou KID's heist note it was; 'Let's call Kudo-kun!'. He loved the challenges and the mysteries, really he did, and it wasn't like he didn't feel good catching criminals it was just that the police had gotten too lazy and dependent on him.

One day he was walking home late at night when he saw a shooting star. Now don't go thinking that he believed in that kind of stuff, but…he made a wish. A wish that people wouldn't be able to see him, that they'd just leave him alone. He shook his head in slight disappointment and annoyance that he'd even gotten his hopes up when a few high school girls came by, pointed at him and began giggling and whispering to each other. Ignoring them he continued his walk back home. The next morning as he walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror he got the shock of his life when the only thing he saw was his pajama floating around where his body should be. After the initiate shock he laughed in joy at the prospect of not being seen.

How naïve. He snorted as he thought back to the time when he childishly scared people with his invisibility. It wasn't until a few weeks passed and he still hadn't seen his face in the mirror that he realized that this had to stop already. His parents had come back after he'd been gone for two months to search for him…or his body. Of course they didn't find him. He'd tried talking to his mother since people were in fact able to hear him, but that had ended up with his mother screaming and crying at the top of her lungs, so he had stopped and watched as his father comforted her until she was asleep.

They continued to live in Japan and eventually decided to stay there permanently after six months had passed. He spent days in the mansion looking at his parents from a corner in the room, while they talked about how much they regretted leaving him on his own when he was fourteen or the negligence in those three years after. It was then that he got to know just how much his parents really loved him. This was the reason why he left the mansion, only going back on certain occasions.

He'd considered talking to others, but Ran was out of the question. She was deadly afraid of the supernatural and wouldn't listen to him. He had tried Agasa-hakase, but the old man had brushed his voice away as a hallucination, caused by longing and lack of sleep.

And that was it. There wasn't really anyone else he could tell. Not someone close to him, that is and a stranger would definitely not listen to him. Well, maybe he could consider Megure-keibu, but that would be a dead end too. With a wry smile he thought that if he really was that famous he'd have more friends he might've been able to go to, but no.

After another six months had passed he decided it was time for him to say goodbye. It'd be easier to let them all think he was dead, than let them wonder if he might still be alive somewhere. So he left a message on his desk one day, saying that he'd see them in the afterlife. But even when Kudo Shinichi was declared dead, his parents never held a funeral – the biggest reason being that there would be nothing to bury anyway. It was at that moment that he decided to give up on ever being seen or heard again. He was an observer now, he watched as the world moved on without saying anything. And the world did move on. His face disappeared from the newspapers and people forgot the name Kudo Shinichi. Sometimes he caught himself forgetting that that had indeed been his name.

"Ayumi-chan, Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko! Come back inside, the rain is getting heavier!" Shinichi lifted his head to see a woman calling the two boys and girl back inside the house. The children pouted and moved as slowly as they could towards the open door. He raised his head towards the sky, feeling the cold rain drops slide over his naked body. He'd gotten used to not wearing clothes at all, since they weren't invisible like his body was. Even in the winter he didn't wear them, since his body for some reason didn't react to the cold. He never needed to touch anything to know how cold or hot it was. He just knew it.

He didn't remember the sound of his voice. He once rescued a girl who was about to be hit by a car. On instinct he'd grabbed her hand and pulled her back as the car drove by with an amazing speed. The mother had screamed and immediately run to the little girl's side. As the woman pulled her into a hug, her big brown eyes looked straight into his and just as he was wondering if she could see him she smiled broadly. "Thank you, Invisible Man." She'd said loud enough for him to hear above the mother's worried sentences. She hadn't seen him, but she knew he was there. She knew! He wanted to say something back, but nothing came out of his mouth. His throat was dry and he couldn't say anything due to his lack of speaking. He had had to watch the mother walk away from him with the girl in her arms as the latter waved at him with a childish grin.

Too long. It had been too long since he'd spoken. It had been too long since he'd worn clothing. It had been too long since he'd lived. He wasn't even hungry in his current form. He couldn't die. But now he knew something he could do. He could help people like he had helped that girl. He tried to continue his detective work again, leaving hints and clues for the police to guide them in the right direction. He'd even put on clothes that hid every part of his body and let Megure-keibu silently towards a hidden hide-out, like a phantom in the night. He didn't do that often though, since he didn't want the police to depend on someone like Kudo Shinichi again. Even so, rumors spread around about 'Holmes' ghost' as they referred to him.

None of this though relieved him from the loneliness that he lived in. He spent his days watching, since it was practically the only thing he could do. Either he'd freak people out or it'd be useless to do anything else, like eating. Maybe he really was dead and his body was just burned to ashes or hidden somewhere? No, probably not. If he was a ghost he wouldn't have to worry about bumping into people and he definitely wasn't able to walk through walls or fly, float or whatever it was that ghost did.

He looked up at the grey sky. Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind. I want to be seen again. Why can't I die? Why do people hurt each other so much? But the biggest part of his brain was occupied by one single sentence.

_I wish I hadn't seen that shooting star._

* * *

******A/N: **Hi everyone. So here is a new story of mine that I have been working on for a really long time. I first wanted to write the whole story before uploading it here so that it won't end up like Bloody Secrets -.-" I still haven't finished this, but I'm working on the last two chapters so I thought that I'd upload the prologue already. I'll be uploading this weekly and yes this time I'll stick to it ^.^

Either way, I hope you enjoy this and please don't forget to leave a review/fav/alert \(^.^)/


	2. Chapter 2

**Genre: **Romance, hurt/comfort, angst, Supernatural

**Rated:** T

**Word count:** 1,714

**Disclaimer (forgot it last chapter): **I don't own!

**Chapter** **2 **

**- Let's commit the perfect crime, I'll steal your heart and you'll steal mine - **

Kaito looked around with half-lidded eyes, filled with sheer boredom. The teacher was holding a lecture about how important philosophers were for the development of politics in the ancient Greece, while the whole class was bored out of its mind. Students yawned almost all the time, others were passing notes, but most of them just stared at something in front of them.

Maybe it was time he did something. A maniacal grin spread on his face and not a second later the whole class was covered in a cloud of smoke. Startled yells resounded with the echo of the explosion and when the smoke slowly disappeared the whole classroom was painted in baby blue – except for two persons, Akako and the felon himself, who both stood out with their normal colored clothing and skin and hair and….well everything. It took a second before the girls screamed as they noticed that even the color of their panties had changed.

"Kaito!" The prankster saw Aoko blink as several other voices joined her angry shout. He laughed at them, though that soon stopped as he was faced with every girl from the classroom – excluding Akako, who sat quietly in her chair, looking rather amused – looking with murderous glares at him. He yelped as the girls tried to grab him, but avoided them easily. Deciding that it was getting dangerous he stopped on the windowsill. Grinning he waved at his classmates and jumped down with a playful 'Ja ne!'. Landing safely with the help of a tree on the ground he heard his classmates shout after him as he walked away.

When he reached the street he released a puff of smoke, putting on a disguise – he didn't feel like people asking him if he should be at school – and continued his walk over the street. He just felt like being alone for a bit. If he was alone he could feel **him**. Some person, who he couldn't see, only feel. It was a weird feeling and he was wondering if he wasn't going crazy like everyone said he already was.

But the feeling was just so real that he couldn't ignore it. It differed where he got the feeling, mostly it came to him when he was alone, but sometimes it would feel like someone really lonely was looking at him when he was laughing with Aoko and Hakuba. Once he'd been in the cinema looking at an action movie. All of a sudden it had felt like someone had sat down beside him, a chilly feeling had spread over the left side of his body and he'd shivered as he turned his head to the chair next to him. Sad blue eyes looked straight at him for only a second before they disappeared, making him wonder if it hadn't been his imagination. When the 'spirit' had left he'd had this rather empty feeling.

"Where are you?" he muttered as he walked around aimlessly. First down the busy streets, then in the park and now in some mal he didn't recognize. The spirit was nowhere. He shook his head, deciding that yes he had finally gone haywire. Seriously he was skipping school and searching for a ghost who he didn't know even existed. With a sigh he headed towards the exit and walked back to his house. On the way it began to rain all of a sudden and he cursed himself for not taking an umbrella to school. Quickly covering his head with his arm and bag he started to run. Water spat up as he sprinted through the puddles forming on the pavement.

"Aah!" A cry of surprise made him look up. He was walking on a riverbed and could look into the garden of a house where three children were playing in the rain. One of them had fallen in a puddle and was now soaked. His two friends came to stand by his sides immediately, first looking at him with worry, then they burst out laughing. Soon the third boy joined them and jumped up from the ground to continue playing. Kaito had stopped to see the event for a bit and smiled as he remembered the time he and Aoko had played in the rain when they were little.

XxX

He turned around, ready to find some place to lie down and sleep, when he saw him. That teenaged boy. Hair messy – and currently wet –, mischievous, indigo eyes and a laid-back attitude. Kuroba Kaito, he knew from the times he'd followed him during one of his trips with his friends. A magician who looked so much like him. Shinichi hadn't known he'd been there until now when he turned around and saw him continue his run through the rain. Just in time he stepped aside to avoid letting the other run into him and he saw Kaito's eyes widen at the movement. A few steps further he stopped and twisted around, looking Shinichi straight in the eyes.

They'd have this moment before. When he'd followed him and his friends inside the cinema. He hadn't meant to let the other see him or know that he was there. He just wanted to remember what it was like to go out with friends again. So he'd sat down in the empty chair beside the magician. Why, he didn't know but the other looked to the side as soon as he had. For a few seconds he sat frozen, looking into the pair of indigo eyes. Yes, they had _looked _at him too. First it was happiness that filled in his heart. Somebody saw him! Somebody could really see him!

Then he remembered the last time that had happened. A girl had seen him. He was about to talk to her when she started screaming about a ghost standing in front of her. He tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't listen and only screamed louder. A few days later she was brought to a mental facility.

He couldn't let that happen again. Not to anyone and especially not to Kaito. He'd really come to enjoy watching the magician's life. He couldn't screw it up. Kaito was too nice a person.

So he ran. Out of the cinema, out of the street, back to his home where he'd spent a few days far away from the teen. He promised himself not to mess with the magician's life and to just watch when he was out with friends and sometimes he go with him to school. But never at his house. Never follow him too long. Never watch him two days in a row.

_Keep your distance._

Now it was the second time they had a moment like this. Azure meeting indigo. And this moment lasted longer than the first.

Too long.

XxX

Kaito couldn't look away. If he looked away now, maybe those eyes would disappear like they had in the cinema. He didn't want that. He wanted to know more about this spirit, if he really existed – though it was hard to say he didn't, seeing as he was now standing right in front of him –, what his name was or is, why he was so lonely and what had happened. Everything. As a child he'd always been really curious.

Now he was acquisitive.

"Who are you?" He asked, wincing at the loudness of his voice. The spirit backed off, like a scared animal. Eyes moved from left to right, before they disappeared. "No wait!" Kaito yelled, but it was too late. An empty feeling filled him as he felt that he was staring at a retreating back, but couldn't even see it. The spirit was gone. He'd scared him off.

He kept standing in the rain for a while. The cold liquid slowly drenched his clothing and he knew that he should go if he didn't want to be sick tomorrow. He got his feet to move after two minutes or so passed, but the movement was sluggish and almost didn't register in his mind. No, he wasn't crazy. That spirit really existed. There was no other explanation for this feeling. Why did he even feel this way? Why did he want to know more about that spirit so badly? Maybe it was because he felt the spirit's loneliness. The sadness that shrouded around the invisible creature, waving around it like a fog.

His body worked on auto-pilot as he walked inside his house, closed the door, took off his shoes and climbed the stairs. It was only when he stood inside his bedroom that he was shot out of his musings. His disguise had been shed, schoolbag lay on the ground next to his desk and he stood in front of his bed, looking at it as if it would give him answers he wanted.

Maybe being crazy wasn't so bad if only the bed would give him just that. An answer.

XxX

Shinichi ran. Away from the teenager he'd promised he'd stay away from. Why was he there? He lived in Ekoda, Shinichi knew and yes he was in Ekoda right now. So he was going home? But school wasn't finished yet. What if he was sick and told to go home? Would he be lying in bed then? Cheeks red from a high fever?

Screaming in frustration Shinichi jumped in the river. He felt the cold surround him and his body as he looked up towards the water surface above him, rain disrupting its smoothness with circles that grew until they disappeared.

He did this a lot. Let his body just float under water and look up at what's above him. Because that's what his live was like now. He was left alone in the cold and could only see people move on the other side. He couldn't speak to them, he couldn't get to them, he couldn't mess up their lives. The lack of air didn't kill him, like not eating or the lack of clothing couldn't.

He screamed again as all thoughts brought him back to that person. Kuroba Kaito. His eyes slowly closed as he fell asleep. Thoughts swayed to the background as the cold water nuzzled his skin as if telling him to just let it go for now.

_It'll be okay._

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, so here is the next chapter ^^ Oh, I forgot to say something last chapter. This story is based on Fairy tail episode 128. While watching this the idea suddenly popped into my head and I had to write it -.-'

Big thanks to foreverandeveralone, Sirastar, Clams-and-Rainbows, Aanaya, MConanfan0327, onepieceanime486, Guest, Nikki, Miss Sky, raziella, Jelp, Kaddy 16 and SiriusJPotter for reviewing :D

Anyway, hope you liked it and please don't forget to review/fav/alert :D

**Reply to guests:**

**onepieceanime486: **Thanks, here you are ^^ Hope you enjoyed it :D You, know when I wrote your name I actually wrote down 4869 XD DC is influencing me too much :3

**Guest: **Awww, don't worry ^^ Here's a tissue *gives virtual tissue* Better? :) XD Yeah, sad songs tend to do that ^^ That's okay, I'm glad you reviewed at all :D

**Nikki: **Well...here's your answer I guess ^^

**Miss Sky:** Thanks :D

**Jelp:** Thanks, I really like it too ^^ hehe, you'll see :)

**SiriusJPotter:** Thanks :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Genre: **Romance, hurt/comfort, Supernatural

**Rated: **K+

**Word count: **1,830

**Chapter 3**

**- Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love -  
~Albert Einstein**

Unbelievable. Three simple rules. Three!

- Don't follow him to his house.

- Don't follow him two days in a row.

- Don't watch him for too long.

He already broke two of those rules…..

Shinichi looked around frantically. He felt stupid for looking around to see if anyone noticed him when he'd been invisible for about two years, but he still did it ever thirty seconds. After that he'd watch the magician sitting with his friends around a table on the other side of the restaurant. His body told him to hide behind a menu, like he saw a girl do once when she was spying on the guy she liked…..Since when did he get urges to act like a girl?!

Shaking his head quickly he ignored the thought and went back to his task. Namely watching Kuroba Kaito and thinking up good reason as to why he was breaking his own rules. He'd been watching the magician for four days straight now, only letting him out of his sight when he went home. He watched him at school, laughed silently at his tricks and antics, followed him after school until he parted with his best friend Aoko and spied on him when he was meeting up with friends – namely Aoko, Hakuba and sometimes a strange girl, who Kaito was definitely careful with named Koizumi or something.

As he watched how Aoko laughed about something Kaito said he wondered if they were going out. It didn't really seem that way since they didn't hold hands or kissed or anything, but their classmates always said they were married. How did that happen? Was it arranged by their parents or something? Aoko always said that they weren't, while Kaito happily confirmed it. Was she not happy with it?

Spoiled brat. She doesn't even deserve him!

Whoa! Wrong train of thoughts, Shinichi! You don't know her! Come on focus! He looked back up, only to see the table with the two childhood friends empty. He jumped and looked around for the two only to see them walking out of the restaurant. Shinichi ran after them, narrowly avoiding a waiter. Outside he saw them walk around the corner back towards home. Usually he would have stopped and walked the other way because he knew nothing was going to happen on the way back. Not this time though. He followed them to the point where they would part, but they kept walking. Together. Towards Kaito's house….

He stopped and watched them move away further. Should he follow them? He said he would never go to the magician's house, but….he already broke two of the three rules. So a third one wouldn't matter that much, right?

He heard his pulse beat rapidly in his ears. What was he going to do? Breaking that last rule might be the final straw.

But he had to know. He had to know more about Kaito. What made him tick? What was going through his mind? What was behind that mask? Yes, he'd noticed. Kaito sometimes faked his emotions. Played he was happy. Manipulated a conversation to another subject when the one at that moment wasn't something he wanted to talk about.

Hesitantly he took a step forward. And another one. Another, another, another. Until he was following the two childhood friends towards the magician's home. He could still turn back now. He still didn't know where he lived, so he could turn back. He thought about it and almost willed his body to stop and turn around when Kaito opened the gate towards one of the houses. He moved towards the front door and retrieved a key from his pocket to open it. Shinichi stilled in front of the house.

Now it was too late. He knew the address and wouldn't be able to let it leave his mind. His eyes trailed over the building in front of him, taking in the small details, then the garden and lastly towards the door which was now closing. How would he get in?

First through the gate, duhuh. He thought to himself and did just that. He felt like a thief when he walked towards one of the windows and looked through it after taking a quick look around to see if there was anyone out on the road – idiot! He looked inside the living room, at the back he could see a little hallway of sort leading towards what he thought would be the kitchen. Aoko and Kaito were nowhere to be found. After taking another glance to see if there were any open windows he walked around the house, but at the front nor at the back of the house were any. Hesitantly he looked through the window in the backdoor, seeing no one in the kitchen. He tried as softly as he could to open it.

The handle got stuck at the last part and he had to push really hard, but once he was passed that the door opened up silently. Quickly slipping inside he closed the door. His heart skipped a beat as just that moment Kaito and Aoko walked inside the kitchen. He pressed himself against the wall on instinct, which lessened the chance that people would bump into him. The two though were too busy fighting that even if they could see him they wouldn't notice him. Both glared at the other and Shinichi could just feel the tension building.

Maybe he shouldn't have followed. This seemed to be a rather personal fight.

"I can choose to go out with anyone I want without needing your permission, Kaito!" He really shouldn't be so intrigued in this argument. Aoko rarely used the magician's real name instead of Bakaito and those were the times when she was absolutely serious.

"I'm just saying that you should be careful! I don't trust that guy! I mean, look at how he looks!" Kaito yelled back at her. How could he leave without letting them notice if they were going to keep standing in the door opening like that? He couldn't slip between them, with them moving around so much – yet not away from the door – and the only other way out was the back door, which they would definitely see if it opened all of a sudden.

"You can't judge a book by its cover! So don't go telling me about who to go out with and who not! Especially if you've never even asked me out!" That made Kaito take a step back. A painful expression crossed his face, but it was soon replaced by a frown. Shinichi watched the two interact, surprised since he'd never seen them like this. "Thank you for buying me dinner Kaito, but I should go now. See you tomorrow at school."

And with that Aoko left, leaving behind a quiet Kaito who just watched her move back towards the front door. As soon as said door was closed with a loud bang he stomped out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. At first Shinichi wasn't sure if he should follow him. He stood a few minutes frozen against the wall, contemplating his options. Eventually he decided he'd just check up on the magician. When he reached the corridor upstairs he looked for the room where Kaito was and found him in his bedroom.

So….now what….He wanted to check up on him and well….what else could he do but look at the teen standing in front of a painting. The painting was a of a magician on a stage, holding a top hat in one hand, while doves flew around him. He noticed the similarities between the man and his own father, Yusaku. Taking in Kaito's expression he tried to distract himself as his heart clenched in a painful, longing feeling.

"What should I do, Tou-san?" The teen whispered. Tou-san? So the magician in the painting was his father. It made sense though. Kaito definitely got his physical appearances from his father. Shinichi watched in fascination as the teen let his hand touch a spot on the painting a little above eye level. His fingertips brushed the surface hesitantly, then pushed forward opening a hidden door. Shinichi couldn't help, but let his jaw fall as Kaito disappeared behind the painting.

His mind reeled for several moments, trying to process what had happened, but really there was no explanation for the magician's need of a secret room or corridor or wherever the door let to. The only way to find out was to get in and look for himself. But what if Kaito was still on the other side and saw him open the door? What if he came back just then? It didn't look like the door would just open without a reason.

He really wanted to find out where it let though. Long forgotten detective instincts urged him to investigate this secret space. What would be wrong with just a little peek?

Making a decision he took the chance and pushed at the exact same place where Kaito had pushed. He felt the painting give in under his hand and he almost squeaked when it suddenly spun around, making him fall forward. He landed hard on his back on the stairs, luckily he didn't fall any further down. After the initial shock he stood up, rubbing the aching place on his back. The stairway was dark, but further down he saw a light.

He moved down cautiously until he stepped into a room, which looked more like some kind of underground garage. All kinds of gadgets lay on a huge working table, the space between those was filled with tools and blueprints. He saw a closet standing against the left wall and huge boxes next to it, filled with what seemed to be magic equipment. Somewhere in the back he even saw a car – how the hell did that get here?

He started from a sudden clink from the closet, head spinning in that direction. Kaito had pushed some button on one of the doors and all of them opened. Mechanical arms came out of them holding a white suit with a navy-blue shirt and a red tie, a white top hat with a navy-blue stripe and a monocle with a clover dangling on the side like a charm.

_Wait_….

Kaito took the top hat in his hands stroking it affectionately. Shinichi could still see the top hat on that messy brown hair.

_That is….._

The monocle was next. Put carefully on the right eye, Shinichi remembered his face from pictures in the newspaper.

_Kaitou KID's uniform…._

A fond smile appeared on Kaito's face as he looked in the mirror and for some reason it triggered his memory to think of the grinning face of Kaitou KID on the front page, on the news and everywhere after a heist.

_That means…._

_Kaito is Kaitou KID…_

* * *

**A/N:** And here's the next chapter! I really hope you guys like it, because I'm not really happy about it... I think it went a bit too fast...

Anyway, don't forget to leave a review ^,^

Thank you to the ones who did on the last chapter, namely; CresentMoonSpirit, Kaddy 16, Clams-and-Rainbows, Mokuren no Ken, mochiusagi, Jelp and suebsas.

**Replies to guests:**

**Jelp:** Well, children are more innocent and belief in ghost more than adults do. Children are just more prominent to seeing ghosts because they still don't rule them out as impossible - unlike adults.

Well, I got that from somewhere else, but I thought that it was correct so I used that train of thought for this story - and every other story that I write or will write about ghosts.

XD Jup, that would definitely be awesome!

**suebsas:** Me neither actually, but it's easier for Shinichi. Otherwise he would have to get food from somewhere, but since he can't use money, he'd have to steal food thus making him a criminal and first of all I thought he wouldn't like that nor would it fit his character ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**Genre: **Romance, Supernatural

**Rated:** K+

**Word count: **2,460

**Chapter 4:**

**- The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, heard or even touched. They must be felt with the heart -**

Days passed. Shinichi didn't know what to do at first with this newly discovered side of Kaito. He hadn't known he was Kaitou KID. Hadn't known he was a criminal. What should he do now, knowing the true identity of the illusive Moonlight Magician? Should he tell the police? If he could in some way. Maybe write a note? No, first of all he didn't have any evidence and the police probably wouldn't believe him anyway. First of all he couldn't use his real name. Second of all if he thought up a name or used someone else's it would either be dismissed or that person would get in trouble. And sending a note anonymously wasn't an option either.

Why would he even want to reve-no! Stop! Of course he wanted to reveal Kaito! He was a criminal and Shinichi was a detective. People would doubt him if he let a criminal off the hook so easily…..

Shinichi stopped walking. Looking down at the ground in front of him he frowned. It had been a while since he thought about how people would look at him. Why was it coming back now? He had already given up on ever being seen. So why was he suddenly so worried about his reputation? Was it Kaito? The teen did seem to be able to screw up his mind – even if it was unconsciously. For one and a half year he had lived on the sidelines and now one person threw his whole world – or what was left of it – up-side down. One person. A teenager, a magician, a criminal.

Why was this all bothering him anyway? Why didn't he just stay away from Kaito if he disliked him for being a criminal? Maybe because he didn't dislike it. It was just that….he didn't understand it. Why would someone steal? Why would they take something that doesn't belong to them? Every time he heard the words steal or stolen he thought back to the time when he had to watch how a family of a mother, a father and their son died. Killed by three thieves who they had accidentally walked in on when they were breaking into their house. The son had looked at him and asked for help as a bullet penetrated his head.

Yes **him**, he'd truly seen him. A lot of children saw him. Some only when they needed him, some when they wanted to play or some would all the time. Shinichi didn't really understand how it worked. He once heard that since children were so innocent and still believed in the supernatural that they were more likely to see something that belonged in that category. Unlike adults. They didn't believe in that kind of stuff so they didn't open their mind to it.

Shaking his head he turned around, continuing his pacing through the ally two blocks away from Kaito's house. He shouldn't put Kaito on the same level as those guys. He probably had his reasons. The only way to find out was to see for himself. Follow him on his heists, look up Kaitou KID on the internet or maybe in the library at the Kudo-mansion – where he still went to read from time to time – and observe Kaito.

Determination set, Shinichi walked out of the ally and down the road to where he now knew was where Kaito lived. As he saw the house come in sight he found out his steps were slowing down and he stopped a few feet away just staring at the slightly bigger than average house. He should go inside and find the answers he wanted already.

He knew that, but his feet wouldn't move at all. Not forward towards the gate, nor backwards away from it all, torn between detective curiosity and civilian flee-and-run-to-the-police instinct. Detective. Or civilian. He was neither of them anymore. So which should he follow? If he followed his civilian instincts he would feel useful again. He would help people by catching a thief and therefore protect future targets. If he followed his detective instincts he would feel alive again. He would get the excitement he'd been missing with this kind of live – if you could call it a live at all.

He kept standing there, losing track of time and tearing himself apart from the inside. If he was normal. If he'd found out two years ago, what would he have done? Follow his detective instinct definitely. He knew he didn't have any evidence. He should find that first, before going to the police – or not. Yes, that's right. He said it before, even if he went to the police now, if he couldn't prove his theory they wouldn't get a house warrant, so it'd be impossible to reveal Kaito as Kaitou KID.

As he climbed over the fence he heard his heart beat in his ears. The way to the window was long. Too long for his liking, but when he finally reached it and looked through it he saw that the house was empty. Off course, Kaito was at school and last time he was here he hadn't seen anyone around either. Kaito had said to Aoko that his mother was on vacation – again, he had said emphasizing the word – to America. So yeah, there was no one at home now. Perfect, it would make it easier for him to get in without being seen.

Carefully he made his way around to the back door, he'd seen Kaito take a key from the behind the small statue of a dove besides the door and as he put his fingers behind it he found that yes, there was a key. He took it and opened the door with it. Locking the door behind him he put the key on the table. Somewhere a little bit hidden, yet easy to find so that maybe Kaito would think he just forgot to put it back behind the statue.

A few hours went by and Shinichi tried to entertain himself with a book he'd found in the living room. It lay open and was practically waiting for him to be read. He let the book stay on the table, not moving it even one inch, only turning a page from time to time. By the time he was at the page that the book had been laying open on he heard the front door open and feet stumbling inside. Quickly he left the book for what it was and made his way to the hall to watch Kaito take off his shoes. His heart beat a little faster at the sight of him.

What if he noticed him? Like he did in the cinema? He should find a way to get out of the house should that happen, but the back door was locked and the front door made too much noise, besides people on the street might see the door open. A window. If Kaito opened a window somew-

He stopped his thoughts when he saw the face of his target. Eyes half-lidded and distant, mouth a thin line and eyebrows in a slight frown. Everything indicated that the magician was having a bad day and wanted nothing more than to go to bed and not get out until he was starving. He didn't pay any attention – should he have even noticed him – to Shinichi as he strode to the kitchen, made himself a cup of tea and disappeared upstairs. Cautiously he followed the magician, making sure to avoid the creaking steps. Reaching the top he immediately went for the bedroom, which he knew belonged to Kaito. As he entered the room he saw him sitting at his desk, doing his homework. Shinichi leaned against the wall next to the door and waited for the magician to finish it. It wasn't until seven o'clock that Kaito stopped and went downstairs to get dinner ready.

Everything Shinichi saw of him this afternoon made Kaito look like the average teenaged boy – albeit a teenaged boy who was slightly crazy, a prankster and had a bad day. Nothing indicated that he was the illusive phantom thief KID or even the slightest bit kleptomaniac. So how did he become the thief in white? It nagged him and a thousand scenarios shot through his mind, but nothing just fit with what he knew of the magician. He hadn't noticed the television had been turned on until Kaito raised the volume to hear the news about a KID heist which would be held tonight. A woman enthusiastically told all the details about the heist, but Shinichi tuned it out. Focusing on the magician's face he saw a half smirk, half nostalgic smile adorn his face. The expression was weird knowing that it was KID's yet it just didn't fit.

His eyes followed Kaito as he walked to the sink with his plate, cleaning it before he climbed up the stairs again. Shinichi followed him back to his bedroom, watching and remembering every little movement and quirk of the magician. He was just in time to see him go through the painting to the secret room.

Preparing for a heist, huh? Not wanting to leave the thief out of his sight for too long he followed him through the painting, down the stairs and into his lair. Kaito was packing his stuff. Playing cards, card gun, juggle balls, cans with different colors of dye and other magic tricks disappeared in KID's suit. A few disguises joined the tricks as well and all Shinichi wanted to do was to dig through every secret pocket of that white suit. He waited patiently though. Just watching how Kaito grabbed everything and disappeared out of the front door.

Later that night found Shinichi panting in front of the door to the roof. He'd followed Kaito to the heist, but lost him in the crowd. Thinking it was better to wait for KID to appear then to search for him he immediately went to the hall where tonight's target was being displayed in a glass case. Shinichi would never admit it out loud, but he was amazed when the phantom thief started his show. Every little movement was carefully planned and thought through. Not a single step was wrongly placed or unnecessary. It took every bit of will-power from Shinichi not to partake in the game the Moonlight Magician was playing.

He'd tried to keep up with KID as he ran through the museum, but the thief knew his way around the building much better than he did and it took him just a minute longer to get to the roof. He pushed the door open slightly and slipped through the crack. The sight that met him made all curiosity boil inside his stomach. KID was standing in his white outfit in the middle of the roof looking with the same longing feeling he had seen on Kaito earlier at the huge gem inside his hand. Minutes spent staring at its crimson red color and Shinichi observed while he sorted through all the possible scenarios, throwing away those which didn't fit with the information he'd gathered. His eyes followed the thief when he suddenly moved towards the edge of the roof and held the gem up to the moon. A sigh escaped those lips and Shinichi had to wonder what KID had been expecting. Was something supposed to happen with that gem?

"Hand it over, KID." A gruff voice said from within the shadows, making Shinichi's head spin towards the source. As he tried to make out the figure in the darkness he saw from the corner of his eyes how KID slowly and cautiously turned around, body seemingly relaxed, but to the observant eye tense from top to bottom. A black figure came out of the darkness showing his face to Shinichi and the magician.

"Snake, what a wonderful surprise." KID said with a joyful voice, hiding the hostility beneath it. Shinichi took the man – Snake – in, making sure he would never forget that face. He wore a suit beneath a rain coat and a fedora adorned his head, everything colored in black. His face seemed like some kind of truck driver or biker, huge, strong, bit on the fat side and a horseshoe mustache around his mouth.

"Let's skip the chitchat, Kaitou KID. Give me the jewel now and I will let you go for tonight." Snake said, lips quirked in a slight smirk that made everything he said sound like a lie. Shinichi looked at KID, who was throwing the gem up and down playfully with one hand, body never once showing the nervousness Shinichi saw in the thief's eyes.

KID smirked. "Well, we've got a problem then. See, I have to return this gem tomorrow and I can't do that if you have it. Besides," he stopped for a minute, lowering his head so his eyes were hidden by the shadows. "it's not the one you're looking for." Shinichi couldn't help but strain his ears at that. Filing the new information in the back of his mind for later investigation, he took a step closer to better hear the two's conversation.

"Well, that is indeed a problem." Snake said, hand disappearing in his pocket. The other two on the roof immediately caught on to the movement and it took a second for KID to move his own hand towards his pocket. Shinichi saw the gun come out of a black pocket and just as Snake pulled the trigger a smoke bomb exploded on the place where KID had been standing. He stared at the space, thoughts reeling back and forth between happiness that the magician escaped and worry if he had been hurt or not. It was only after Snake started to move that he did too. Not caring if the criminal saw the door open mysteriously or not he almost yanked it off its hinges and ran through it. He ran back downstairs, out of the museum, through the crowd and over the streets towards the magician's house. Had he escaped in time? Had the bullet missed him or…

_Was he shot?_

He didn't know how long his run had taken or how he had entered the house, but he felt the relief as soon as he saw the magician lying on his back on his bed. Quickly looking for any shot wounds or blood he concluded that no, the thief hadn't been shot. He sighed in relief and slumped back against the wall next to the door. Now only one question remained.

_Who was Snake?_

* * *

Hey everyone ^^ To be honest when I first started with this chapter I had no idea how to make this between 1,5k or 2k long...it ended up with more than that...

I don't know what it is, but again I think the chapter is going too fast. I left out so many details and that annoys me .

Thanks to the ones who reviewed last chapter! those being; Mokuren no Ken, mochiusagi, foreverandeveralone, killuanatsume, CrescentMoonTenshi (this time with the c ^^), Sirastar, Kaddy 16, MConanfan0327, Aanaya and Jelp.

**Replies to guest:**

**Jelp:** No, he can't see him all the time and when he sees him it's usually only the eyes. Probably but he was really really sad after his fight with Aoko-chan *author is just exagerating since she can't think up a good reason why he didn't*... Well, they'll be meeting soon :D

Don't forget to review/fav/alert and until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Rated:** K+

**Word count:** 1,810

**Chapter 5:**

**- Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly - **

The question kept roaming around in his mind. Who was this Snake? He tried to push it to the back of his mind, but it would come right back whenever he let his mind wander. There was one thing he knew for sure. Snake was dangerous. Kaito was in—no, that wasn't right. It hadn't seemed as though Snake knew KID's real identity. Moreover, if Kaito had been in any kind of danger, it would have meant that the magician would have gone into hiding instead of continuing to walk around so openly. So, Snake wasn't a danger to Kaito until he participated in a heist as KID. How had the task force not noticed him before? A dark-clad man with a gun would be suspicious if he kept coming to heists. Not to mention, wouldn't someone have heard the shooting?

The questions only made the already large pile of unanswered questions grow. The Moonlight Magician and the teenage prankster. Kaitou KID and Kuroba Kaito. Two mysterious sides to one mysterious person. Shinichi wanted to find out everything about him. He had to meet him. Personally. Talk to him and get the information he wanted.

The problem now was, how? Kaito couldn't see him and—even though he didn't abide by his other policies—Shinichi didn't want to go against the one he had set up on not talking to people who couldn't see him. He stood against the wall in KID's lair, watching Kaito try on several disguises. After a while, the magician began to act a bit silly, putting on weird disguises. One moment he was an old man, then a woman in a sexy bunny outfit—Shinichi had no idea why his cheeks burned as he watched Kaito try out a few alluring poses – and a man with huge glasses, a beard, a raincoat, and a hat, which hid almost all of his face. Maybe he should—

Yes! That was a great idea! That way he'd be able to talk to Kaito without scaring him off! Now he just needed the right tools…

XxX

Kaito cackled merrily as Nakamori-keibu threw himself on top of the dog pile, still thinking that KID was beneath it all. Twenty-five faces popped out of said pile—some slightly hidden and some out of the weirdest places— at the sound of it. A synchronized blink of confusion almost had him on the floor in a laughing fit, but he had to hold it in as, not even a second later, the pile dispersed and twenty-five officers ran his way, fingers spread wide like claws trying to catch him. Still laughing maniacally, he dodged them one by one, dyeing hair here and there in various shades of green, pink or orange.

"KID!" Nakamori-keibu roared at the top of his lungs. The sound echoed in the room, leaving officers unfortunately close to the keibu pressing their hands against their ears, trying to block out the sound. Kaito, not wanting to waste such a beautiful distraction, turned on his heels and disappeared through the doors behind him. When the doors closed, he pulled himself up onto the little platform he'd placed above the door earlier. He waited, and the task force pushed their way through the door and into the hallway soon after, running like a herd of wildebeest that had been scared by a lion. He snickered silently and opened the air vent close by. He used it to find his way to the roof. He breathed in the deliciously fresh air.

_Now would be the time to check for Pandora_, he thought, and walked towards the center of the roof. As he raised the stolen gem up towards the moon, he felt a pair of eyes following his every action. His body tensed and his arm halted halfway through the action. Men clothed in black shot through his mind for a second, but it didn't feel like the one watching him meant him any harm.

"Well, well, do I have a guest at my heist?" he said, turning around casually. His indigo eyes panned over the roof, but never once did he see this 'guest'. "Why don't you come out now?" he asked playfully. He waited and waited, but no one came. The roof was empty. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. He was still trying to pinpoint where the person was when a voice spoke up.

"The heist note was interesting this time." The voice was soft and hoarse. His eyes landed on the shadows next to the door that accessed the roof, where the voice came from. When he narrowed his eyes, he could see a figure standing there faintly.

"You can come out, you know? I won't attack you." Kaito said, receiving a soft chuckle in return. He saw the figure's shoulders shake in the darkness. Obviously, the figure was at ease. What was he doing here? Was he a fan or an officer? He didn't seem to be a threat. A fan would have immediately tried to get his autograph or something, while an officer would've tried to catch him.

Maybe he was a smart officer?

"Oh, I know you won't. I've researched you enough to know that." The figure said, pushing off the wall. So he was an officer? Or maybe a detective like Hakuba? He cleared his thoughts, thinking that he would get his answer soon enough. Slowly, the moon shone on a pair of shoes, then a pair of jeans, then further up showing him the figure actually wore a black tuxedo.

Snake!

It was the first thought to cross his mind when he saw the color, but as the face appeared, he saw that it was hidden beneath layers and layers of bandages. A pair of dark glasses covered his eyes and a black fedora sat on top of his head. His mind paused as he tried to find a logical explanation for this situation.

"Well, well, it seems Invisible Man has decided to show up at my heist. I'm so honored." Kaito said mockingly while he bowed politely. The bandages moved slightly, indicating a smile. "I don't really think I need to introduce myself." He spread his arms wide to indicate his Kaitou KID outfit.

"No, you don't," The person said. "and Shinichi will suffice." Shinichi waved a dismissive hand. Kaito put his hands in his pockets and leaned back a bit, his body revealing none of the tenseness that shot through his body.

"Alright then, Shinichi. You said you've researched me, right? Does that mean you're a police officer?" he asked, taking in the little features he could see through the tuxedo and bandages. Shinichi was definitely a man, though his features were slightly feminine. He was around Kaito's height and his voice was still raspy, like it hadn't been used for decades. A wrinkle of the bandages where the nose was supposed to be showed Kaito that Shinichi made a displeased face. "Not much a fan of them?" Kaito asked.

"I was, still am actually, but I don't admire them as much as I used to. I mean, look at Nakamori-keibu. He's been chasing you for quite some time, right? Yet he's still no closer to capturing you. Also, I've found out a lot more about you than he probably ever will." Shinichi said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, while a smirk—at least, Kaito thought it was—appeared on his face.

Kaito replied with his own challenging smirk and raised his head slightly to look down at the other. "Oh~?" he purred, "And what information have you found out?" The slight movement of the mysterious man's head accompanied by the moonlight reflected onto his face gave Kaito the impression that the other was trying to look smug.

"For example, I know about the black-clad man who has been trying to kill you." Kaito's heart skipped a beat, poker face breaking for a split second before he regained himself. He stared intently at the man and felt those hidden eyes watching his every movement closely.

"Really? And how do you know about that?" Kaito asked, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He had to find out who Shinichi really was and how he knew about Snake. If he was just an innocent citizen, then he shouldn't get involved in this! Snake was Kaito's problem! Even the police would be no match for them!

"I saw you two." Shinichi said softly. Kaito's body froze. When? How could he have not noticed? It was impossible! He always made sure no one was around and he knew Snake wouldn't have come out if someone was watching! "Why is he after you? What gem is he looking for?" Kaito grinned slightly. It seemed Shinichi didn't know that much about the whole story.

"I think it's better for you if you don't know anything about this. Forget what you may have seen or heard. Forget about Snake and go on with your life." He said, turning around and walking towards the edge. He was ready to leave when…

"Sorry, I can't." The tone in Shinichi's voice sounded so familiar. The voice of a true detective. That's what it was. Kaito had heard that particular inflection in Hakuba's voice sometimes when he was in his detective mode and determined to get to the bottom of a case. The bandaged figure now held the same kind of tone except it was stronger. Not even once had he heard it that forcefully from the Brit. "I will find out what is going on, Kaitou KID. Mark my words."

He smiled fondly at the detective—that, he now knew for sure—over his shoulder. "You can try, but please refrain yourself from getting killed." That said, he left Shinichi alone on the roof as he jumped off. He waited for the usual 'Wait, KID!' that came out of everyone's mouth if he left like this –whether it was out of worry that he'd fall to his death, from a fan girl who didn't want him to leave, or a cursing officer – but it never came. He opened his hang glider and took off into the night, casting one glance back to see Shinichi still standing where he had been the entire time, just following him with his gaze as he flew away.

Kaito frowned. He was a detective, right? And he wanted answers. Yet he had stood there, watching his every movement. Had he been testing to see how he would react? Something had felt off about him, like the way his voice had sounded so hoarse and the clothes and bandages. Why had he dressed up like that?

_Why didn't he try to catch me?_

* * *

I'm sorry...I'm one day too late...I got mid-term exams and they are a pain in the ass -.- Luckily the worst is over, I only have three tests left, but they are so easy that I almost don't have to learn for them at all ^^

Really, really big thanks and a thousand hugs to Mokuren no Ken, who volunteered to be my beta-reader ^,^ Thank you so much Moku-chan~!

Also thanks to; CrescentMoonTenshi, WhiteVeil, Sirastar, mochiusagi, Aanaya, Mokuren no Ken, MConanfan0327, treasure family and Jelp for reviewing :D

**Reply to Jelp:** That...would be...awesome XD You know, I never thought about that XD It would really make for some fun scenarios! Yes it would, but they won't really play a big part in this story. The main plot is about Shinichi being invisible and falling in love with Kaito.

Don't forget to review/fav/alert and until next time~!


	6. Chapter 6

**Rated:** K+

**Word count:** 1,386

**Chapter 6**

**"I wrote your name in the sky, but the wind blew it away,**

**I wrote your name in the sand, but the water washed it away,**

**I wrote your name in my heart, and forever it will stay."**

More heists followed and Kaitou couldn't stop thinking about Shinichi; the unanswered questions kept roaming around in his mind. He didn't really concentrate in school anymore—not that he really needed to or had done so before—and he laid awake for hours before getting out of bed and turning on his computer. He searched the web for a detective named Shinichi, but only came up with old newspapers about a high school detective named Kudo Shinichi that had been dead for over a year. He tried to find any resemblance between the Detective of the East and the Shinichi he remembered, but found that he couldn't see any. However, blue eyes caught his attention. They were almost the same color as the eyes of the spirit he'd seen in the cinema and on the riverbed, but something was missing. Kudo Shinichi's had some kind of longing or hatred in them, unlike the hollowness and sorrow he remembered seeing in the other pair.

Wait—how had his mind switched from Bandaged Shinichi to the lonely ghost? He should have been finding out who the detective was so he could protect him if he ever stuck his nose too far in Kaitou KID's business, not searching for a thing that probably didn't even exist. Quickly shaking his head, he continued the search for his mysterious visitor.

XxX

Shinichi had come to almost every heist after that first one, but not once did Kaito see him during the heist itself. Their meetings were exclusively on the rooftop just before his escape when there was no one around. Not to mention, whenever Shinichi was able to get the jewel back from him, he didn't' give it back to Nakamori-keibu—not as himself, at least. He usually put it back on the display case with a note stating that 'he' had been able to retrieve it from Kaitou KID. These actions caught the media's attention and the Phantom of Justice, as they had started calling him, became the center of the newest gossip.

That was the only time that Kaito paid attention in school. If his classmates were talking about the rumored hero, then he strained his ears to listen. The gossip was exaggerated most of the time, but there was always some semblance of truth in them and Kaito could use every little clue he had to find out who this Bandaged Detective was.

Sighing, he lowered the sapphire and put it in his pocket, turning his gaze to the city that was illuminated by a myriad of multicolored lights. He loved this view. It was one of the benefits of being an infamous phantom thief. He had always loved high places since the view was eternally beautiful. Being Kaitou KID, he was able to get to the highest of them: Tokyo tower, skyscrapers, and other tall buildings.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He remembered that the voice had sounded hoarse and soft the first time they met, but now it had smoothened out. He rather liked his current voice. It was firm and controlled. Every little pitch was perfectly planned out, giving the Bandaged Detective a confident and calm impression. Maybe he had just gotten a cold that first time. It wasn't unusual, though that didn't' seem to fit with Shinichi's character. He was unusual, with so many mysteries shrouding his existence. He was one huge enigma.

"Yeah, it really is." There was nothing else to say. Shinichi had never tried to capture him, and the only thing he had ever done was take back the jewel KID had stolen. That gave Kaito a secure feeling, like it wouldn't matter if he told him who he really was or he placed some of the weight on his shoulders on those of this detective. What if he did? What if he told him about Snake? It would probably help relieve some of the pressure, knowing that there was someone who knew what he was going through, who could help him through it, and who would be there when he needed someone to comfort him.

No! What was he thinking? The sole purpose of finding out who Shinichi really was was to get him to stay out of harm's way. That would be useless if he told him everything. How could he had ever considered that possibility?

"What are you thinking about?" The question came so suddenly that it caught him off guard. He looked at the man next to him. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but the crinkle of bandages around his face spoke of the worry in his mind. "You looked quite sad a minute ago." Kaito blinked. Sighing, he turned his head back to the city lights.

"Yeah, I guess." He said softly. Shaking his head, he continued. "It's nothing, I was just thinking about some stuff." The gaze never left him. It felt like Shinichi could see right through him, as though he could tear apart the disguise he was wearing and find the teenage boy shaking and quivering in fear beneath it all.

"It's hard putting up a façade in front of everyone when all you want to do is scream, isn't it?" The Bandaged Detective said, switching his gaze to the lights as well. From the corner of his eye, Kaito studied the bandages on his face in an attempt to see what expression he was showing. Was he talking about himself? "It's always you who has to save the day, but you'd rather sit in your room and do something that you yourself truly want to do." Shinichi lowered his face. Usually, bangs would have covered his eyes by then, but there were none to be seen. "You just want to be a normal teenager."

Did he speak from experience or was he just that good a detective to guess what Kaito desired the most in his life? Turning around, Kaito leaned against the railing on his elbows, head raised to look at the moon and the stars twinkling happily in the cloudless sky. "Maybe so, but someone has to do it," That made the detective lift his head and look at him. "like the sun that has to shine during the day. If it didn't do it, another star would have to or we'd have no light at all. Not to mention, we wouldn't have this solar system."

"I hate stars." The muttered sentence caught his attention. He didn't know if he was supposed to have heard it, but he did and he couldn't understand. The man next to him had his head lowered once more, this time so far that his black fedora was covering half of his face. A twitch a little lower drew Kaito's eyes to the detective's hands, clenched in bottled-up anger.

"Why would you hate them? They've never done anything to you, have they?" Silence reigned as Shinichi didn't answer. He hated the fact that the bandages—and now the fedora as well—covered the man's face. He couldn't see his eyes or facial expression, making it harder to judge his emotions and thoughts.

After a few minutes passed by in silence, Shinichi hummed noncommittally. "I guess I should be going. You can keep the gem tonight. I don't really feel like retrieving it." Kaito watched as he straightened and walked towards the entrance of the roof. He didn't like this side of the detective that he was seeing, but what could he do about it? Shinichi was a mystery that Kaito couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried.

Turning around, he put a foot on the railing and jumped. He felt a pair of covered eyes watch him as he flew away on his hang glider, but he didn't look back. Tonight had been weird. Their conversation had seemed normal, but more questions had been added to the pile of unanswered ones again. Kaito felt a strange feeling in his gut that he had never felt before and all of it was because of him. Shinichi. The Bandaged Detective. The Invisible Man.

_What was this feeling?_

* * *

Hey, not a really interesting chapter, but I had to write it since it'll help work towards what I had in mind. Btw I hate the computer's at school. I usually upload the chapters during the two hours I'm free this morning, but the computers at school were being bitchy since they didn't want to load -.- Anyway, that was the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed it ^^

Oh, guess what! Kaitou KID is EVERYWHERE! I found out my dad's password for his cellphone XD It's 1412! I almost couldn't stop laughing!

Lastly I wanted to say that I don't own the quotes in the beginnings of every chapter ^^ I took them from the internet.

Big thanks to my beta-reader Moku-chan~!

Also thanks to everyone who reviewed, those being; treasure family, mochiusagi, CrescentMoonTenshi, Aanaya, Mokuren no Ken, Sirastar, Eyeinthesky, JelpHasNails and Nika!

**Eyeinthesky: **Yes, actually that's true XD Poor shin-chan, maybe he could, but that would mean he'd risk getting found out. Maybe Kaito would suddenly sat down on him one morning XD now that would be an awkward situation!

**Nika: **Yes, they did :D

Don't forget to leave a review/fav/alert ^^ Every writer is happy to get those~!


	7. Chapter 7

**Rated:** T

**Word count:** 1,822

**Chapter 7**

**- Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense -**

_I tell you with this little rhyme,_

_Give me your golden heart at the twelfth chime._

_When the bird flies away on white wings,_

_The invisible orbs will twinkle as he brings_

_The beauty of the world to its sight._

_I'll be waiting for you tonight._

_(KID doodle)_

Rubbing his temples, Nakamori-keibu listened to the nervous officer give a report on their analysis of the heist note. The time wasn't that hard, nor was the date. KID would host his heist tonight at midnight. The only problem was the target. It was obvious that the target was the 'golden heart,' but there was no gem displayed in Japan with any connection to that name. On top of that, they also had no idea what the third, fourth, and fifth sentences meant.

Shinichi watched with his hands over his ears as the keibu started scolding the officer on their lousy progress and how it was bad for their reputation—which was already horrible. He sighed. He—unlike the task force—understood a little about the three sentences. The bird on white wings obviously referred to Kaitou KID himself and the invisible orbs were probably supposed to be Shinichi's eyes. The fifth sentence was the only thing he couldn't figure out, though he could guess that KID was going to do something during their rooftop meeting.

Maybe KID wanted to cheer him up, since he had walked away last time with a sad reply… He probably shouldn't have said that he hated stars. It was just that he really did. After all, it was the cause of all his current sorrow.

Smiling, he banished the thoughts from his head. He would get the answer tonight, so it was no use thinking about it now. It would be better if he spent time figuring out how to tell Nakamori-keibu what the target was so they could prepare for the heist. A folder or picture would be useful, but he didn't see any on the keibu's desk…

If he could get Nakamori-keibu out of his office, then he might be able to write a note explaining it. Leaning comfortably against the wall, Shinichi watched as the man drove the officer out of the room. Shutting the door with a bang and a harsh 'don't you dare come back before you find something useful!', he strode back to the desk where he sat down in the chair. A tired sigh escaped his lips.

"There has to be a way to capture that guy…" the man muttered, and for a second, Shinichi felt sorry for him. It probably wasn't easy to chase a phantom—or at least a phantom-like human—without success for so many years. Then he remembered the eight years that he had spent obsessively waiting for KID to reappear and the fact that he still wasn't any closer while Shinichi already knew so much after only following the thief for a little while—yeah, he kind of cheated, but come on! Someone should've noticed the shootings! Besides, falling for a dummy every heist was just…

Shaking his head slightly, he focused on the task at hand. How could he get Nakamori out of his office? Maybe he could act like the Phantom of Justice in order to give him the answer. Walking to the door, he looked at it and calculated the distance from it to the desk. It would take five seconds, meaning it would take ten seconds for the keibu to walk to the door and back to the desk. If he opened the door for no reason, Nakamori-keibu would definitely want to see who it was, so he would look outside, giving him another five to ten seconds. He just hoped that would be enough for him to write an explanation. He could probably write a note in ten seconds.

That would do it.

Putting his ear to the door, he tried to hear if there was someone walking in the corridor outside. If he did that… He waited until he heard a pair of shoes walking through the corridor. It was a five minute wait, but when those minutes finally passed and the clicks of high heels could be heard in the corridor, he took a step back. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself before kicking the door open with as much force as possible. Looking back on it, it might have been a little too much since the poor piece of wood slammed against the wall with a loud bang and was almost thrown off its hinges.

"What the—!" Nakamori jumped at the sound and stared at the open door for a second before taking off and looking for the perpetrator. Shinichi ran towards the desk and sat down in the chair. He grabbed a post-it note from the stack next to a pencil box. He scribbled out a note with a stray marker explaining his deduction, all the while watching the door. Not a second after he put the marker back and jumped off the chair did Nakamori-keibu return to the room, shouting at the unfortunate woman outside and grumbling about weird doors opening all of a sudden.

Shinichi walked back to the spot where he'd been before, adopting the same comfortable pose as he watched the man sit down in his chair. Eyes widened as they looked at the memo lying on top of his desk. Snatching the memo quickly, Nakamori-keibu frantically read it again and again. "Mamoto-kun! Get here right now! Search for any information you can find about the Sunset Diamond!" Smiling, Shinichi walked away, knowing that everything would be alright.

_Good luck, keibu_.

XxX

Sighing, Kaito let his hand fall down from holding the Sunset Diamond up to the moon to see if it was Pandora. It wasn't. He took a look around the roof. Shinichi didn't seem to be here yet; he didn't notice his presence or his eyes burning into his back. Should he wait? Usually he was always on the roof before Kaito himself. He'd probably just waited there every time instead of chasing him at the heist.

It wasn't like he wasn't going to come. Otherwise, he wouldn't' have helped Nakamori-keibu, right? Kaito thought back to earlier events that night.

"_But Aoko! I have to go now to prepare for KID's heist!" Kaito couldn't help but laugh at Nakamori-keibu's whining as he walked into the house. Toning down his grin, he headed for the kitchen where he could now hear Aoko scolding her dad._

"_You have to eat! You can't work on an empty stomach! It won't help if you faint in the middle of the heist." The father grumbled something in response, but it was too soft for the magician to hear._

"_Yo, Aoko! Guess you're not ready to go yet." Kaito grinned as he walked inside the kitchen. Nakamori was eating the food Aoko had made for him, sulking like a little child. Aoko turned around at the sound of his voice. Smiling apologetically, she shook her head._

"_Actually I am, but Dad wanted to go without eating, so I had to stay here and make him." She said the last part with a glare towards her father, who slumped further in his seat, but didn't stop eating. Only a poker face kept Kaito from laughing at the scene. He smiled at his childhood friend as she kept glaring._

_He remembered the fight they had had a few weeks ago. Luckily, they'd been able to talk it out. Aoko had told him that yes, she would take his warning in mind if the magician agreed not to act so overprotective and at least meet her boyfriend before making assumptions. __He__ still hadn't met him, since he had skillfully avoided him. Why? He didn't exactly know. Maybe because he still kind of liked Aoko or maybe because he was a little bit ashamed of his behavior towards her. _

"_So, Nakamori-keibu," Kaito said conversationally, "pretty smart of you to figure out such a difficult heist note, and without help! I heard you didn't even contact Hakuba." Kaito said, grinning. The man stilled, looking at his food with a frown. The two teenagers looked at him confusedly as one of his hands disappeared in his pocket._

"_Actually…I didn't. Listen…this might sound weird, but you've got to believe me." The two childhood friends looked at each other then back at the keibu, nodding. "See, I was in my office trying to figure out the note when suddenly the door slammed open. I went to see who did it, but the police officer walking through the hallway at the time said that she hadn't seen anyone. When I came back, this lay on my desk." The keibu handed them a yellow memo. Kaito looked at it._

_**Golden heart = sun = heart of solar system = golden during sunset = Sunset Diamond.**_

_It was a simple and quickly written note, but the message was clear. "I have no idea who or what it was, but that was how I knew the answer."_

Looking over the rooftop again, Kaito sighed. It was still empty. There could've only been one explanation; Shinichi had been the one to leave the note. No one else could be smart enough to decipher that note—possibly excluding Hakuba—and no one would have been able to give the answer without being seen. Kaito had suggested the idea that the Phantom of Justice had done it. Nakamori had nodded noncommittally to that. "Maybe," he had said.

Kaito knew it wasn't maybe. It had been Shinichi, so why wasn't he here? Why wasn't he at the heist? Why wasn't he showing himself if he went through all of the trouble of helping Nakamori-keibu? He looked down at the cheers coming from the crowd as a large smoke bomb erupted inside the building. They probably thought he was still playing with the task force.

Suddenly, he was pushed onto the ground, but as he looked up at the perpetrator, drops of a warm liquid landed on his face. Staring in shock at the empty air above him, he heard something that sounded like a soft thud before the sound of a gun firing reached his ears. Reflexively, he spun around, narrowly avoiding a bullet that would have pierced his chest. Running as quickly as he could, he cleared the distance between himself and the other side of the roof, bullets imbedding themselves where his feet had been only a moment ago. Jumping off the roof, he just barely managed to grab his top hat as the force of a bullet knocked it off his head.

What had happened? Why had he suddenly been pushed onto the ground? He hadn't seen anyone! Looking down at himself, his breath caught in his throat.

_Blood had been sprayed all over him._

* * *

Hey everyone ^^ I guess I've got to apologise, right? Sorry about not uploading anything last week -.- I have holidays right now, so I'm lazy as hell and my beta-reader was being bugged by school... bad school, very bad school... Anyway, I'll be away tomorrow, so I won't have time to upload the next chapter. You can expect the next chapter next week on wednesday ^^

I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^

Big thanks of course to Moku-chan for giving up some of her time to beta-read my story!

Also thanks to Aanaya, rahma23, Allie X 'l, Shingo-sama, mochiusagi, treasure family, Mokuren no Ken, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, RoxyConan-Kun, Nika, D CrescentMoonTenshi, MConanfan0327 for reviewing!

**Replies to Guests:**

**Nika:** Ah, don't worry about that ^^ I dislike it when a story doesn't have a happy ending -.-

**D:** No problem ^^

Don't forget to leave a review/fav/alert!


	8. Chapter 8

**Rating:** K+

**word count:** 2,212

**Chapter 8**

**- Being in love makes you blind. True love opens your eyes - **

"KID!" Nakamori-keibu bellowed from his spot on the wall—Kaito had glued him there with a beautifully pink slime that wouldn't let go unless toothpaste was applied. He loved the fact that no one in the whole task force knew that and it would take a lot of hot water and scratching before he'd be free. Kaito really didn't feel like doing a heist at the moment.

Laughing maniacally, he said, "My dear keibu, I don't know what it is with you and pink. The two of you are just made for each other!" This drew another wave of angry shouts accompanied by occasional cursing. Not only had the thief glued him to the wall, he had changed the man's outfit to a frighteningly pink version of the police officer's suit. Even so, Kaito couldn't find it in him to really laugh at the scene since he really didn't want to be there.

"Wait a minute! KID, stop right there!" Nakamori shouted as the thief clad in white gracefully jumped off the display case he'd been standing on and went to take the huge ruby, taking his time as all the officers were either asleep or glued to some surface.

"Sorry, keibu, but the ruby is mine now, and since none of you can stop me at the moment, I think it's time for me to take my leave." He grinned, then released a smoke bomb, disappearing from the hall. In the air vents above the room, Kaito put his hands on his hears, trying to protect them from Nakamori's angry cries. "Damn it, keibu. I'll be deaf before my forties if you keep doing that." He muttered as he continued crawling through the maze of pipes. It didn't take long before he reached the room he was planning to escape from. He lowered himself after making sure that no one was in the room and opened the window.

Looking down at the streetlights below, he remembered that he hadn't met Shinichi again this time. He was probably waiting on the rooftop. Shrugging, he put a foot on the windowsill, but something kept him from jumping down. He'd be able to talk to Shinichi about last time, wouldn't he?

Last time. During his last heist, Snake had used a sniper to try and take him down. Not exactly knowing what had happened, Kaito had gone hope, scared to death since he was covered in blood and thinking he would need to clean the wound as soon as possible. However, when he came home and took off his clothing, he didn't find a bullet wound anywhere. Looking at his clothing, he saw that they didn't have any holes in them either. On closer inspection, it even looked as if the blood hadn't spilled _from_ him, but rather_ on_ him. The problem was, whose blood? He hadn't seen anyone: not when he had fallen down, not when he looked up at the one pushing him down—saving his life in the process—nor at any other moment during the whole event.

Maybe if he talked to Shinichi about it, he'd figure something out. He knew about Snake, so would it matter if he asked advice about this? They weren't exactly friends though, but rivals or enemies weren't accurate either. More like two acquaintances having problems that only the other could understand. Opening the door in front of him, it was only then that Kaito noticed he'd walked towards the rooftop during his contemplations as if drawn there by a beautiful lullaby.

And a beautiful lullaby it was. As he raised his eyes, he saw his favorite detective sitting on the railing of the rooftop, his back leaning against the wall of the building next to it. With sunglasses covering his eyes, he looked over the city with an emotion the thief couldn't read, and it wasn't only because of the glasses and bandages. One knee bent upwards so his arm could rest comfortably on it as the other leg dangled over the edge with the other arm lying in his lap. The black tuxedo showed thin features as though he hadn't eaten for years and he held the fedora with the hand in his lap. Even so, Kaito wasn't able to see any more than he had with it, since even the detective's hair was covered with bandages.

"Liking the view up here?" Kaito asked suddenly, stepping forward to stand beside the man to watch the city as well. Shinichi's head only turned a little, acknowledging Kaito with a sideways glance before turning back. Kaito smiled; he was getting better at reading the other's actions.

"It's nice," came the monotone reply. Pouting slightly, the thief poked him in his side. Shinichi jumped and gasped, almost falling off the railing in the process. He looked at Kaito, bewilderment showing in his body language.

"Why are you always so gloomy?" Kaito asked, grinning now that he knew one of the detective's weak spots. He watched as the teen grumbled something incoherently and rubbed his side slowly.

"I was just saying it was nice, nothing more, nothing less." Kaito wanted to reply teasingly, but Shinichi cut him off. "I'm curious, though," he said as he lowered himself from the railing, now leaning on it with his elbows. "Your last heist note, what was with the last few sentences?" Blinking, Kaito thought back to his last heist note—geez that seemed to have been so long ago! Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Shinichi continued. "_When the bird flies away on white wings, the invisible orbs will twinkle as he brings the beauty of the world to its sight,_" he recited. "What beauty did you want to show me?"

Kaito blinked. Oh yeah, he'd totally forgotten, hadn't he? It was because of that sniper that his plan had been totally ruined and disappeared from his mind. Giving Shinichi a smirk, he took the bandaged hand and pulled the teen towards the center of the roof. Looking at the thief warily, the latter waited for him to do something. "Now stay put, watch, and relax." Kaito said mysteriously. He took a few steps back and started to snap with his fingers as if trying to light a lighter. After a few attempts, Shinichi relaxed, looking a bit skeptical.

"KID, what are you—"

"Shh," Kaito shushed, putting a finger to his lips and winking. Keeping eye contact, he snapped his fingers one last time and with it, blue flames spun from his hands. They quickly grew and danced in some kind of whirlpool towards Shinichi, causing the detective to take a step back, but the flames didn't burn him, because as soon as they reached him,the whirlpool was so big that it encircled his whole body.

Shinichi watched as the flames burned calmly around him before slowly rising towards the sky. They curled in different directions, getting smaller within seconds and Shinichi noticed them taking off towards the stars. Several stars blinked as the flames seemed to disappear inside them, like small black—or rather white—holes sucking up the fire.

Not a second later, he watched the stars come towards them and his eyes widened as he had no idea what to do. They grew slightly and changed form. They became five-point stars and slowed down as soon as they got in range. They circled around him like the flames had done. He reached out his hand and tried to touch one, but as soon as he did, the stars exploded, twinkling blue dust falling down around him. The others followed one by one and soon Shinichi was covered in the blue stardust, looking at the smiling thief standing to the side.

"You said you didn't like stars, so I thought I'd show you just how beautiful they are." An uncontrollable grin spread across his face. The stunned look on Shinichi's face was priceless, even if the bandages covered most of it. Grabbing both of the detective's hands, he spun around, making the dust on the roof and Shinichi whirl up again. They laughed joyfully and fell down on their backs next to each other.

"Alright, I admit it!" Shinichi said between laughs. "Everything has its good sides." Kaito grinned and looked at the bandaged face next to him. How long had this been going on? Quite a few weeks actually, and he hadn't even seen Shinichi's face once.

Raising a hand, he placed it on the other's cheek. The teen next to him stilled. His laughter died out and his face became impassive, or at least Kaito thought it did. He let his hand search for the beginning of the bandages, searching those sunglasses for the eyes he wanted to see so badly. His hands finally found the roughly cut end and was about to unravel it when a hand stopped him. He felt the detective start to shiver, whether from cold, fear or something else, he didn't know.

"Don't," was the only thing Shinichi said, and Kaito removed his hand slowly. Sitting up, he shook his head.

"Sorry, I just…I don't know… I don't understand why you wear those bandages all the time." Kaito said, putting his arms around his knees. "I want to know what you look like. I want to know who you really are. I just want to know you." Where did this all come from? What was he saying? Why was he being so cheesy? Kaito didn't understand… He hugged his legs closer to his chest.

"Asking me to remove my bandages is like me asking you to remove your hat and monocle. Would you do that?" That made Kaito think. He really wanted to understand Shinichi, but to the point of revealing himself? He was a detective, so revealing his secrets…would he be able to trust Shinichi?

He looked at the Bandaged Detective next to him. Head lowered slightly, his pose said it all. Kaito's actions had totally ruined the moment and now his favorite critic was sad and probably had depressing thoughts roaming around in his mind. Well, he couldn't have that now, could he?

He was too late though, as Shinichi stood up to move away. "Well, I guess I'll se—" A pained cry escaped his lips. Grabbing his side, he groaned in pain.

"Shinichi!" Kaito stood up quickly, putting a hand on the other's back. "What's wrong?" He asked, looking over the teen in search of the source of his pain. Nothing seemed to be wrong at first sight, but the hand was still pressed tightly against his side.

"I'm fine." He got out just before a coughing fit hit him. The bandages where his mouth should have been turned a weird dark color that caught Kaito's attention almost immediately. It was crimson….blood. Shinichi was coughing blood. That meant…

Eyes widening, Kaito almost ripped the tuxedo apart to look at the white shirt underneath and his suspicions were confirmed as he saw the same bloody liquid drenching the white fabric just above Shinichi's hip. "Shinichi, what the hell happened?" He asked, voice rising in slight anger and worry.

Shinichi groaned and whispered something, but it was too soft for Kaito to hear, so he took matters in own hands and went to unbutton the shirt. This got a reaction out of Shinichi that Kaito couldn't understand. "No!" he screamed and pushed the magician away, the force sending both of them on their butts.

"Shinichi, we've got to take care of that wound!" he urged, but the detective shook his head fiercely.

"I'll be fine," he got out hoarsely. Kaito crawled back to him. Pinning Shinichi to the ground, he stubbornly continued unbuttoning the shirt. "No! Don't!" The detective struggled beneath him, making even more blood spill from the wound in his side. Kaito took the bandaged hands trying to push him away and held them against Shinichi's chest, so that he wouldn't be able to sit up, use his hands or put any strain on the wound. His other hand continued the work until a bandaged stomach came to sight.

"Please, stop!" Shinichi screamed at top of his lungs, but Kaito had already pulled the bandages loose. The sight that met his eyes…it just wasn't possible. He looked at the chest beneath him and saw…nothing… Well, that wasn't true. He saw the bandages lying on the floor, but on top of those bandages should have been Shinichi's belly. He should have seen the sight of a belly with a wound on the side, but there was nothing. Eyes widening, Kaito loosened his grip unconsciously. He met the detective's face and saw the bandages beneath the glasses soaked with tears.

"Sh-…" He didn't know what to say. What should he say? Was this all some kind of joke? Then what was with Shinichi's reaction? Tears… "Shinichi, what…?" Kaito almost didn't register the hands slipping away from his grasp and said limbs pushing him away in a quick shove. Not a second later, the detective scrambled to his feet and ran.

Kaito could only stare at the spot where Shinichi had lain. Where he should've been able to see a belly.

_Invisible…_

_Man…_

* * *

So, I should stop promising things... Seeing as I will be busy the next few weeks and my beta-reader also has less and less time to be reading my stories -.-

anyway, I'll try to upload the next chappie within one or two weeks hopefully, but as I said I'm not going to promise anything.

Oh, btw I'm very sorry about the cliffhanger from last chapter~! Hohohohoho~! :)

Hope you guys liked this chapter and a big thanks to Moku-chan as always for spending her free time beta-reading my story!

Also thanks to everyone who reviewed namely; Sirastar, RoxyConan-Kun, The Magnetic Witch, treasure family, Clams-and-Rainbows, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, Aanaya, mochiusagi, D, Jelp, Xanaelle, Mokuren no Ken and CrescentMoonTenshi ^^

Lastly, I'll answer your reviews tomorrow. I really gotta go to bed right now since I have to get up early tomorrow ^^

**Answers to guests:**

**D: **Yes, I am :) hehe...yes sorry about that -.-"

**Jelp:** Oh well, hope you had fun reading two chapters^^ Of course, he's invisible not invincible :D...:( he should be though...


	9. Chapter 9

**Rated: K+**

**Word count: 2,261**

**Chapter 9**

**- It's not that I can't live without you, it's that I don't even want to try -**

How? He didn't understand. Maybe it had been the light? It had been rather dark on the rooftop, what with the moon as the only source of light. So had his eyes been playing tricks on him? But he had seen it – or rather, hadn't seen. Kaito was certain that he hadn't seen Shinichi's belly.

So the reason that the detective always wore the bandages, fedora, and tuxedo was because he really was invisible? That would explain how he could get the gems back in their rightful place without being seen. Now the whole story Nakamori-keibu had told him about how he found out the Sunset Diamond was the target of that heist a few days ago made perfect sense. If Shinichi really was invisible…

Speaking of the Sunset Diamond heist… Was it Shinichi who had saved him? Is that why Kaito hadn't seen anyone? The invisible detective had pushed him away in time only to end up with a bullet in his side.

"Kaito?" The question was asked so hesitantly that his eyes shot up towards the owner of the voice. Aoko was looking at him, eyes filled with concern. Letting his gaze travel around the classroom, Kaito noticed that everyone was gloomily eating their lunch, talking quietly or not talking at all. "Is something wrong?"

The magician shook his head and turned to look out of the window, not caring that he probably had a melancholic look on his face. He still felt Aoko's gaze on him along with a few others, namely a blonde detective and a red-headed witch. "Everyone's worried, you know?" his childhood friend said softly.

He didn't look at her, even when he heard Akako rise from her seat and walk over. "Kuroba-kun." she said, but he didn't answer, wishing that everyone would just leave him alone. A sigh escaped the witch's mouth and a second later, she grabbed Kaito by his collar and dragged him out of the classroom.

"Oi! Let me go, Akako!" The red-head was relentless and didn't release him. She dragged him through the hallways until they reached an empty classroom. Akako shoved him inside and Kaito was just able to stay on his feet. "What is this all about?"

"What is going on with you?" she asked, her voice taking on a stern tone as if she was a teacher or a mother scolding a child. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. "Nakamori-san is worried, Hakuba-kun is worried. Hell, the whole class is worried about you!" Her voice rose slightly.

Kaito looked away. "So?"

Akako raised her eyebrows. "What? No teasing? 'Are you worried about me as well, Akako-chan? Awww~' is what you're supposed to say!" she yelled, using an irritable, high-pitched, and childish voice when she imitated Kaito. The magician said nothing. "This isn't like you. You're supposed to be the cheerful, pranking idiot who disrupts class because he's bored! So now I want to know why. What happened that made you act like this?" Her voice toned down to a normal speaking level as she regained her composure.

He sighed. "It's n-"

"Don't you dare say it's nothing," she cut him off. "Tell me the truth."

The magician looked at her, assessing his choices. He knew he wouldn't be able to just walk away. If he didn't give Akako a logical reason, he'd be stuck here even if classes started again.

"I don't know." Kaito said eventually. "I don't know what happened and that's what I'm trying to find out." He leaned back against the wall and let his head bang against it hard enough to spark a jolt of pain.

"Do you need my help?" He looked at her, eyes half-lidded with disbelief and boredom.

"I would ask you to, but I don't really have time nor do I feel like returning the favor in whatever way you want me to." Akako's eyes lowered, a sadness visible in them that Kaito had never seen in her eyes before. He didn't really understand why the witch suddenly had this almost sorrowful look, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

"Act normal again. Stop worrying Nakamori-san and the rest." She said, head turning to the side to avoid his gaze. "That's your payment."

Kaito contemplated that for a bit. He really didn't feel like putting on the mask of the magician and prankster Kuroba Kaito; he just wanted to be left alone for now, but maybe Akako's help would give him an idea as to what to do. "Fine." he muttered.

The witch nodded and smiled slightly. "Alright, tell me then."

What should he say? Hey Akako, I've been meeting up with this guy after my heists and well, he's invisible. Yeah, weird, huh? I found out after I tried to treat him when he was injured. Like that would make sense…

"Akako…" he started, still not knowing exactly what he wanted to say. "Do…. Is there a spell...that would make someone invisible?"

The witch raised an eyebrow at him. She thought for a bit, probably mentally searching through her inventory of spells, before shaking her head. "There are none, at least none that can be performed nowadays. One of the ingredients necessary for the spell is mammoth bone, but unless you steal one from a museum, it won't work."

"Then do ghost exist?" he asked, waiting hopefully for the answer.

Akako's auburn eyes pierced right through him, filled with confusion and calculation. "I'm a witch, not a medium; I wouldn't know. Why? What is it that you saw, Kuroba-kun?"

Shoulders drooped at the reply and a minute was spent in silence as the magician tried to figure out what to say. "I…met someone. But…he's invisible." He felt Akako's gaze on him and prepared for laughter, because, really, that sounded like he was as crazy as people sometimes said he was.

"Then how do you know he really exists?"

"Because we talked and he was injured!" Kaito shouted before realization dawned on him. "Wait, you believe me? You're not going to laugh?" He blinked when she raised her eyebrows at him, as though she thought it would be obvious why she wasn't.

"Well, first of all, I know Lucifer is real. Second, I'm a witch, and third, I've been through so many things that I would be stupid if I didn't believe in the possibility of you talking to an invisible man." She shrugged.

"I-I guess…" Kaito mumbled.

"So he really exists. Then why are you so sad? Do you want me to try and make him visible again?" Kaito shook his head. What did he want? He wanted answers. Shinichi had been a mystery for long enough. He wanted to know what happened, why he was invisible, where he was right now, everything.

"I want to find him." Kaito whispered. In the silence of the classroom, despite how soft he spoke, the witch heard him. He felt the sun on his back and thought of azure eyes meeting his indigo ones as he ran through the rain on the riverbank, or that time when he had been in the cinema.

_So, that was you, Shinichi? You're the lonely spirit._

"I think I can help you with that, Kuroba-kun." Kaito's head shot up at the sound of the witch's voice, not even aware that he'd lowered it. She smiled softly at him, something he'd never seen on her face before, and for some reason it made his heart warm. The afternoon sun bathed her in a warm light and made her hair shine the most beautiful red. Her eyes burned like fire and her skin was a shade of porcelain that made it look like she would break if you touched her. He couldn't understand why she had to use spells to get the attention she wanted.

"Why don't you come by tonight? Bring something that belongs to your invisible princess and I'll see what I can do." Kaito blushed at the words and told her again and again that Shinichi was a guy as they walked back to class, but the damn witch just kept a smug smile on her face.

"About time you came, Kuroba-kun." Akako said as she opened the door for the magician. He walked inside cautiously since the witch's mansion was slightly—just slightly—scary. With the dark furniture and decorations—he wasn't even going to start on the dust and the spider webs he had seen hanging from the ceiling—it couldn't look any more like a haunted mansion.

It wasn't that he was afraid of that kind of mansions, he always walked through fun houses while laughing at everything that scared Aoko, but this being the witch's house, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He followed the redhead towards what seemed to be a living room. The only light burning in the place was a fire in the hearth. A pair of red silk armchairs and a couch sat around a small coffee table. The witch walked around them and stopped in front of the fireplace, where she grabbed some things from the space on top of the stone furniture.

This let Kaito take a closer look around the room. It was two stories tall, with two bookcases on either side of the fireplace reaching almost entirely to the top. As he walked around the coach to sit on it he let his hand trail over the back, across the gold-painted metal that held the whole piece of furniture together.

"So," the witch started, walking towards the couch to sit on it. "What do you have for me?" She gestured for Kaito to take a seat next to her. The magician complied, albeit a bit hesitantly. A puff of smoke covered his hands and when it disappeared only a few seconds later, he held a white jacket—KID's jacket. Eyebrows raised as she registered the blood on them, silently asking him to explain.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I don't have anything else that belongs to him." Kaito said, a bit irritated. The witch smirked a bit, taking the jacket from the teen. She took the bowl she'd taken from atop the fire place and put it in her lap. With her long nails she scratched bits of the dried up blood off of the jacket and into the bowl.

"That should be enough." Akako muttered after a few scrapes, more to herself than to Kaito. The magician decided to stay silent and just let her do her job without interrupting. The jacket was returned to him and he unconsciously put it away as the witch's actions caught most of his attention. She lit a match and put it in the bowl, making sure that everything was burning. Kaito took a closer look at the contents of the bowl. It looked like some kind of tribute for a ritual. There was a small branch from something that smelled like pepper, a feather of a dove, a sharp tooth of some kind of animal, and a slimy substance that held everything together.

It must have been some kind of combustible liquid because in no time, everything in the bowl had been burned to ashes without much fire at all. White smoke curled up from the blackened bowl. Carefully, Akako put her hand on top of it, sealing off almost all the smoke excluding the occasional whiff that escaped between her fingers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Minutes passed and the silence almost killed Kaito. He knew better than to be impatient when it came to the witch, but seriously, did she have to be that slow? Moments like these gave him a moment to think about the woman's power. He'd always been curious how she would see things. What were her visions like? How would they feel? What would it be like to see KID in danger or get shot without being able to do anything, only to wake up and realize it was just a bad dream?

"He's in a building. A huge building," Akako said suddenly, forcing Kaito to move in a little closer in order to hear her better as she slurred slightly. "He's on a couch. It's a beige-brownish color and-" She stopped, taking a breath as the vision continued. A frown appeared on her forehead and it was starting to worry Kaito slightly. "He's surrounded by bookshelves."

Auburn eyes opened quickly, taking in their surroundings as if waking from a terrible and disorientating dream. She turned her head towards him and said hurriedly, "You should find him quickly." The urgency in her voice was clear and it made the worry in the magician's chest grow exponentially. "You said he was hurt, right? I didn't see any details, but I know he's in a lot of pain." Kaito nodded and stood up.

Stopping just in front of the door he turned around. "Thanks, Akako." He said, before taking off. He had to find Shinichi!

He didn't notice the eyes filling with tears that she could not let escape. Taking a deep breath, she lightly slapped her cheeks a few times to recompose herself. As she stood up to clean the bowl and throw its contents away, she couldn't help but whisper, "Be quick or you're going to lose the one person you love the most… Kaito…"

_"Save Kudo Shinichi from the stars."_

* * *

Hey, so yeah I didn't really like this chapter actually :/ too little details -.- either way I hope you guys liked it ^^

As always a big thanks to Moku-chan for beta-reading!

Also thanks to everyone who reviewed; treasure family, CrescentMoonTenshi, mochiusagi, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, Sirastar, Eye for an Eye, Sakura240, twilightserius, Clams-and-Rainbows and killuanatsume.

**Answers to guests:**

**Eye for an Eye:** I know that feeling Xd Here is the next chapter! Hope you like it ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Rated: K+**

**Word Count: 1,962**

**Chapter 10**

**- Love is the magician that pulls men out of his own hat -**

Sitting down on the red couch in the public library of Ekoda, Kaito cursed all couches and libraries in Tokyo. Akako's vision meant that Shinichi would be on a couch in a library-like room. Why the hell were there so many libraries? It wasn't like that many people read books these days. Lately people read on their iPod or iPad or whatever it was they had. No one wanted to read from a book anymore…

_Baka..._ he thought. Of course people were still reading from books. He was just frustrated. Akako's urgency was really bothering him. Shinichi had been hurt and here he was, wasting his time searching through every library in Ekoda, including all the school libraries. None of those had what he was searching for. Either they didn't have a couch at all or they were the wrong color.

If he continued like this, it would be weeks before he finally found the right one, and Shinichi probably didn't have that much time.

Letting his head fall backwards on the back of the couch, he looked at the white ceiling, automatically memorizing every little crack and stain. How was he going to do this? There had to be a way to find out the exact location. _What would you do if you were hurt and scared, Kaito? Think!_

Go home, of course. That was always the safest place to go after a particularly dangerous heist. Usually Jii-chan would be able to help him clean the wound or he would do so himself. So, Shinichi would be at his own house too. The problem: where was that? Kaito absentmindedly stared juggling three balls, not caring about the weird looks he got.

First of all, he needed to find out who Shinichi really was. Now, if he'd chosen his real name, Kaito would say that his invisible man was the high school detective Kudo Shinichi, but that didn't make any sense since Kudo Shinichi had died a year ago. It was his only clue though. Why had Shinichi chosen that name? Had it been a coincidence or was there something else going on?

With a puff of smoke, the balls disappeared as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked at the ground in front of him. Maybe Kudo Shinichi wasn't dead at all. What had that report said? He had disappeared off the face of the earth two years ago, then after a year had passed by, the police had presumedthat he was dead. A body had never been found, so it wasn't certain…

He should pay the Kudo mansion a visit. If he looked around in the Kudo household and found a library then maybe, just maybe, Shinichi would be there. And then….

Then what? What if Shinichi wasn't there? He would have reached a dead end; he'd have no other clues to go on. He couldn't waste hours tailing a useless clue. Still, he wouldn't know if it really was that useless if he didn't go to take a look. For all he knew, Shinichi could really be the long-lost high school detective and by now bleeding to death in his old house, on a beige couch in the library.

Shaking his head, Kaito broke into a run. The more time he doubted whether or not he should go to the Kudo household, the less time he had left to find Shinichi. Sprinting towards the train station, he bought a ticket and quickly went to Beika-chou.

He took a seat and looked around, trying to find anything that would distract his restless mind. It was quiet in the train, as if everyone there was holding their breath, waiting to see if he would be too late. There were about three people other than Kaito inside the train, none of them looking at him.

A middle-aged man with dirty clothes and a newspaper in his sat on the opposite side. His beard was as dirty as his clothes and looked like it could use a brush. Big, dark eyebrows cast a shadow over his eyes, coloring them even darker than they probably were.

Two seats behind him sat a teenage girl, playing on her phone. The small beeps were one of the few sounds in the train and it seemed to echo in Kaito's head, like a cardiogram of Shinichi's heartbeat. She wore a skirt that didn't even reach halfway down her thighs, with striped hosiery and black boots. Her top was obviously too small for her since the fabric clung tightly around her breasts and Kaito could see a little strip of her belly. Long black hair sat in two ponytails on top of her head with a few neon colored strands braided into it.

On the other side of the train sat another middle-aged man, this one the polar opposite of the other. He wore a dark blue suit and held a little black suitcase in his lap. He was impatiently tapping the leather-like surface with one finger as he looked out of the window. He wore glasses that made him look intelligent and successful. His hair was a bit on the messy side—the fashionable kind of messy though.

It wasn't enough. The train was too quiet and nothing could distract him, though he knew he would've gone crazy if it had been packed with people.

When the train finally arrived at his destination, he sprinted out of it, ignoring the startled looks he got from the three other passengers. It didn't matter. All he wanted was to find Shinichi, to know if he was okay.

He ran down the street, shooting through the crowd with amazing agility. As he reached the more quiet parts of Beika-chou, his pace fastened even more. Now that he was not hindered by other people, he took short-cuts, going through parks, climbing over walls and jumping down the stairs until he finally reached a huge mansion.

Coming to a stop, Kaito leaned on the wall and panted. He may have good stamina—otherwise he would have never escaped Nakamori-keibu so many times—but he'd given his all with the run. As he slowly caught his breath, he took a closer look at the house. There was no light coming from the house and no cars stood in the driveway. It seemed like the Kudos weren't home. Taking a quick look at the lock in the gate, he wrinkled his nose and jumped. He could barely grab the top of the wall, but as he did, he pulled himself up and over it, dropping almost silently in the garden.

So far, so good. No alarm had gone off yet and he'd made sure no one had seen him. He ran towards the front door. Taking one more look back, he swiftly picked the lock and opened the door, only to quickly slip inside. Within seconds, he was inside the house. Kaito looked in all the rooms on the first floor: the kitchen, the living room, a few guest rooms and the garage, but no library. Going to the second floor, he didn't waste any time and opened all doors. There was bedroom, a staircase leading towards the attic and a bathroom.

Kaito was about to scream in frustration when he opened a door to the sight of bookshelves lining every wall. Freezing, he looked around the room. Huge bookshelves covered the walls almost completely, leaving room for a few windows here and there. As his eyes looked up, he saw that wasn't the end of it. Where the ceiling usually would've been was a balcony, circling the room with more even more bookshelves.

Lowering his gaze again, Kaito looked at the furniture in the room. A wooden desk stood a bit to the side with papers and a laptop on it. In the middle of the room stood a wooden coffee table with beige-brownish armchairs surrounding it. There in front of a two story tall window stood a couch, bathing in the light of the setting sun.

That was it….that was the—damned—couch he'd been looking for. A distortion in the air caught his gaze and Kaito could just barely make out the silhouette of a person lying on the couch. As he stared at the silhouette, he noticed the dark crimson stain on the piece of furniture where the person should have been sitting.

"Shinichi!" he screamed unconsciously as he darted forward. The distortion of air seemed to move slightly. It was weird, not really seeing Shinichi lying there, but knowing nonetheless that he _was_ there. His hand unconsciously moved to touch the head, of which he could faintly see the outlines. The feeling of silky hair sent weird feelings down his spine.

How could this be possible? It couldn't! He had to get away from it! It was weird, it was different. It might be dangerous!

But it was Shinichi. He'd found Shinichi. His Shinichi, who was save and sound.

"K-…Kaito?" Dropping to his knees, the magician let one hand trail down the head until he held the other's face with two hands. He couldn't see anything between them. It was such a strange sight.

"Shinichi, you idiot. Stupid, stupid Shinichi! Don't scare me like that!" Hhe said, feeling tears gather in his eyes. "Don't ever do something like that ever again!" As one tear fell down his cheek, others soon followed.

"Kaito." It was a soft whisper. In the back of his mind, Kaito registered that Shinichi was saying his real name, but it didn't matter at the moment. For a second, it seemed as though he could see the azure eyes looking dully into his, before they widened. Hands weakly tried to push him away. "No, don't look at me!" The invisible teen said in between pants. His attempts to get away got weaker by the second and as Kaito looked down, he saw the crimson stain on the couch grow as more blood seeped out of the wound.

"Idiot, don't move so much!" he said, grabbing both hands. "Shinichi," he said firmly, but the other wouldn't listen. "Shinichi, listen to me!" he shouted angrily. The hands seemed to stop and although the magician couldn't see it, he knew the detective was looking away from him. "Listen, I don't know what's going on, but I have searched all day long for you and if we don't take care of that wound, you'll die!" The invisible limbs in his hands started shaking, but he didn't let go.

"Alright," was the quiet whisper and slowly, Kaito let the hands go, ready to grab them again should the detective try to run. The magician looked down at the wound. He couldn't entirely see it, only the blood seeping out, so it was going to be tricky to treat it.

"How deep is it? Can you see it?" He felt the detective move, probably either shaking or nodding, forgetting that Kaito wasn't able to see it.

As Kaito looked at where he hoped was the face, the detective gave a quiet whisper. "I can't, but the bullet only grazed my side." Kaito gave a quick nod before turning back to the wound. The best thing he could come up for treating the wound was how he would've done it if it had been he himself injured and hoped that that would suffice.

_It wasn't normal. It was weird. It was scary, but…_

_It was Shinichi._

* * *

Hey, everyone. So I'm having finals right now and I'm really nervous because if I don't get good grades for them, I will have to do this year again -.- And I really want to graduate with my friends, so sorry about the late upload (I'd wanted to upload it before my finals, but well...you know how that goes..). I'll leave it at that and quickly go back to studying TT,TT Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Two more chapters to go and Shooting Star will come to an end :( I'm going to miss this story...

Big thanks to Moku-chan!

And of course all those who have reviewed, namely; treasure family, killuanatsume, Sirastar, twilightserius, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, mochiusagi, Nythierian (Your name sounds pretty :o), shatteredswan, Jelp, Vacant Balcony, Bunnyz-chan, Mokuren no Ken and Athina Dark-Angel of Death!

**Answers to Guests:**

**Guest (on chapter 8):** ='.'= fan? Really? Of me? :D Well...uhm...better late than never ^^; hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Nythierian:** Yes, I very much liked the idea ^^ Especially the first chapter was really fun to write, since I love ranting and lots of details ^^; Well, luckily it's just a scratch and it doesn't need stiches, but yes it still should be rather difficult to treat :s Thank you so much, it makes me really happy to hear that :D Don't worry, I hate sad endings :( So in the end everything will be alright ^^ Yes, I guess I could've put Ran in the story somewhere. I kind of forgot her though, since the storyline is mostly about Shinichi being invisible, his relationship with Kaito and how that relationship develops ^^; Thanks, here's the next chapter ^^ I hope to get the other one up a lot sooner!

**shatteredswan:** well...uh...go by where the blood is coming from...and a lot of luck...^^ there, there *hands tissue* it'll be okay, don't you worry ^^ Well, I already have all the chapters written out and I told myself to write chapters between the 1,5k and 2k since I had planned to make chapters that had no scene changes. So sorry, I can't do that :/

**Jelp:** It's kind of obvious, isn't it? :) Here you go ^^

**Vacant Balcony:** Well, he just wants to help ^^...really bad... Thanks :D

Don't forget to fav/alert/review! Especially the latter since we almost reached the 100 reviews :D


	11. Chapter 11

**Rated: T**

**Word count: 2,216**

**Chapter 11**

**- Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity -**

Yes, it was definitely a weird sight to see a shirt and pants—both obviously too big for the one wearing them—to walk inside the living room. Kaito couldn't help but stare slightly as Shinichi stood in front of him, his body invisible, even under the clothes he wore, probably borrowed from his father.

The two of them had decided to spend the night inside the Kudo mansion since Shinichi had said that his parents were on a trip to America, so they could stay there and take the train back to Ekoda the next day. Kaito thought it would be alright if it was only one night. First of all, he had to get that stain out of the couch if he didn't want the Kudos to freak out upon their return. Second, he didn't want to risk bringing Shinichi all the way back to Ekoda, considering the severity of his wound. Kaito had somehow managed to stop the bleeding, but that didn't mean the wound had healed. He actually wanted to wait in the Kudo mansion for a few more days, but he didn't want to risk being found by the Kudos.

He saw the clothes move slightly as the detective fidgeted. "Ah, sorry," he said, grinning apologetically, knowing that he'd been staring wide-eyed at Shinichi. It really was a strange sight to see those clothes float in mid-air.

"It's okay," Shinichi whispered hoarsely. The magician stared for another ten seconds, before snapping out of his daze and looking back at the newspaper in his hands. Folding it up, he put it away.

"So how's your wound doing?" he asked as he stood up and moved towards the kitchen. The food Kaito had bought this morning stood on the stove, boiling. Continuing with the last preparations for breakfast, he waited for Shinichi to speak.

"It'll be fine," The detective said. He spoke up again when he saw the displeased look on the magician's face. "I just need some rest and it'll heal quickly." A pause. Kaito waited, feeling that the other was uncertain whether or not he should continue. "I seem to heal quickly when injured so, it'll probably be healed within a day or two."

"That's good." The magician said, finishing breakfast and putting it on the table. He sat down and waited for Shinichi to do the same, but the other didn't move. He kept standing in the doorway, body tense and uncertain.

_What would it look like when Shinichi ate? Would the food float in the air as he chewed on it?_ Kaito thought curiously. He gestured for the detective to sit down. "I made some for you too, you know. It'll be a waste if you don't eat it. Besides, you've got to strengthen up if you want that wound to heal even faster." Slowly, the other moved to sit down on the chair on the opposite side of the table.

Kaito watched as a sleeve moved up and invisible hands picked up the chopsticks next to the board. They both muttered 'itadakimasu' before digging in. Indigo eyes fixated on the other's movements. One pair of chopsticks raised to where Kaito guessed were the lips and he almost held his breath in anticipation.

"Actually, I don't need to eat." The detective said, putting the food down.

"Ah! Wait!" Kaito called after Shinichi as he stood up and moved away from the table. He stopped in front of the wall and leaned with his back against it, arms seemingly crossed in front of his chest in a relaxed posture. That seemed to be a habit of his. Whenever he wasn't feeling comfortable or wanted to think, he stood with his back against a wall as if he wanted to blend with it.

"It's okay, just eat. I already told you I don't need food to stay alive." Kaito stood up, pout on his face, and walked towards the clothes seemingly floating in mid-air. He put his hands on one of the detective's shoulders and pulled him back towards the chair where he sat him down.

"That might be so, but one, you're injured. Two, it'll be good for you, and three, if you don't eat it, I'll have wasted time and money on food that no one is going to eat. So you sit down now and eat," the magician said firmly, and could only imagine the stunned look on Shinichi's face as he took one of the chopsticks, grabbed one of the pieces of food from the plate, and held it out for the invisible teen to eat.

Silence reigned for a minute as Shinichi hesitantly sat there. The shirt moved forward and suddenly, the piece of food disappeared with a section of the chopsticks. Kaito blinked, sure they'd been there not a second ago, then realized that Shinichi had taken a bite. As the shirt moved back, the chopsticks became whole again, but the food was gone.

Kaito waited patiently for the other to say something. "It's been a while since I've eaten anything," Shinichi muttered softly after a while.

The magician grinned. "See? Now go and finish your plate." He moved back to his own seat and continued eating. The rest of dinner was spent with small chitchat. Afterwards, Shinichi disappeared upstairs somewhere as Kaito did the dishes. When that was done, he moved upstairs as well, searching for the detective.

"Shinichi?" He called out, but received no answer. He walked through the hallway, looking in every room, but his invisible friend was nowhere in sight. Where could he have gone off to? Reaching the last door, he opened it, remembering that it led to the library.

As Kaito glanced around the room, he saw a teen standing in the middle of the room. He bathed in the sunlight coming through the two story high window. Raven black hair looked neat on top of his head, with a single cowlick. His body was slender and looked weak. He was also a little bit shorter than Kaito himself. He had pale skin and wore clothes that were obviously too big for him.

The whole picture almost seemed ethereal and the magician kept staring. Even as the teen turned around to look at him, the picture stayed in his mind like a photograph.

"Kaito?" Blinking, the picture disappeared and he came back to reality. At the place where the teen just now had been standing, there was Shinichi, looking his way. Shinichi. Invisible Shinichi. Not the beautiful and cute teen whose face he couldn't remember.

"Ah, sorry," he said, moving towards the other. "I was looking for you. What are you doing here?" The clothes indicated that the other turned back to the window.

"I was just thinking," was his reply.

"About what?" Kaito asked, coming to stand beside him and looking outside the window like the other was doing. The light coming through the glass blinded them slightly, but the magician could still make out the beautifully decorated garden. Flowers were blooming, the hedges perfectly cut, and the stones were covered with grass and moss like old ruins.

Shinichi kept silent for a while and Kaito found himself stealing a glance sideways, hoping that he would see the other's face. Had the teenager from just now been Shinichi? Was that what he really looked like? Or was it just his imagination?

"Actually, I've been thinking about it a lot lately." Shinichi said in a soft voice. Without having to look, Kaito could feel that the teen had lowered his head, invisible bangs covering his eyes, and a nagging feeling crawled its way inside his stomach.

He turned to the side, looking at where he knew Shinichi was standing. "Shinichi? What's wr-" He was unable to finish his question as he felt something cover his mouth. He could see the clothes practically floating against his body and feel the warmth of the other.

Shinichi moved back and the warmth against his mouth disappeared with it, leaving a dazed magician to stare at nothing. "It's nothing. Don't mind me." Shinichi muttered, as though nothing had happened. What had Shinichi done to elicit that kind of reaction? He'd been standing really, _really_ close just now. It was almost as if…as if….

"You... Did you just…kiss me?" The magician stuttered, unsure if he should ask. What if he was wrong? Shinichi would laugh at him for sure. Shinichi seemed to be looking up, before turning away. The clothes shook slightly as he chuckled.

"What? No, you idiot," Shinichi said, laugh evident in his voice, "That would be stupid, right? We're both guys." Something was off about his voice. There was an undertone in it that the magician couldn't really place. It was as if the detective was trying to convince himself instead of Kaito.

The latter was still deep in thoughts as Shinichi walked towards the door. "I think we should go back to your house tonight. I'm not really sure when mom and dad will be back," he said as he left the room. Kaito was left looking at the open door, questions plaguing his mind.

That night, the two did as Shinichi planned. He'd put on some of Kaito's spare clothes, covering his whole body and together they left the mansion behind, leaving everything the way it was before either of them went inside. The walk to the station went by in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Casting a glance to the side, Kaito looked at the other, but he let his eyes flick back to the ground in front of him, knowing that if he looked too long, he would draw the other's attention. What should he do? He wanted to ask Shinichi about this morning. Kaito was almost certain that Shinichi had kissed him, but why would he deny it? Should he ask the detective? How?

"Knock, knock," Somebody whispered against his ear and he jumped. "There are people waiting, you know." It took a moment to recognize the voice. He felt Shinichi's body pressing slightly against his and blood seemed to rush to his cheeks. He coughed and quickly took the last few steps towards the ticket machine in front of him, ignoring the growls from the people who stood behind him in the line.

He bought two tickets and jogged away, dragging Shinichi behind him. The latter chuckled just loud enough for Kaito to hear and his cheeks grew even redder in slight embarrassment for dozing off like that. The train took them back to Ekoda and none too soon did they reach the house. Taking off the hat and wig Kaito had given him, Shinichi put them on the cabinet.

Kaito stared at him. He was debating with himself how and if he should question Shinichi more about this morning. He didn't notice as the detective called out to him. He didn't notice him move forward, not until he saw a pair of concerned, azure eyes temptingly close to his own…

His hands moved on auto-pilot as they reached out, cupping Shinichi's face and bringing it closer to his own until their lips met. He closed his eyes and moved instinctively. He was a bit off, kissing the corner of the other's mouth instead, but quickly made up for that with a passionate kiss full on the lips.

A surprised cry escaped Shinichi and he tried to pull away, but Kaito didn't let him. Catching the upper lip, he slowly sucked and nibbled on it. Shudders went through the other's body as one hand lingered over his neck and trailed down over his abdomen, where it moved to wrap around the detective.

Kaito pulled him closer until he could once again feel his body press against his own. Just as he licked the detective's lower lip, Shinichi pulled away too quickly for the magician to react. With Kaito's arm still around his waist, though Shinichi couldn't do anything else than turn his head to the side.

"Don't… We can't, Kaito." Shinichi stumbled over his words.

Kaito laid his head down on the invisible shoulder. "Stupid," he whispered, cutting off the other's weak protests, "You don't get it, do you? Why can't we? What is so wrong about this?"

"Everything is wrong about this…" Shinichi said and tried to get out of the magician's grip, but he just tightened it.

"Then why did you kiss me this morning?" He hadn't wanted to say it so roughly; it sounded more like an accusation than a question, but for some reason…it hurt to hear all that. It hurt this morning when he had heard Shinichi's denial. It hurt to hear that it wasn't right.

"Do you seriously not get what is going on?" Shinichi didn't give an answer to Kaito's question. He sighed. Tightening his grip even more, he raised his head until he felt an ear against his lips, then he whispered those three words that had been lying on the tip of his tongue long before he'd known they were there.

_"I love you."_

* * *

Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I kept waiting for Moku-chan to sent me the chapter after she beta-read it, but I hadn't realized that she had already done that ages ago TT^TT I've only been back for a few days after going on vacation to France ^^ It was amazing, two weeks doing nothing but reading and bathing in the sun :) Though there was a family who had brought their dog along and that dog...my mom and I thought of multiple was to kill it...it kept barking for reason I can't understand and the family did nothing! Gaaah, well luckily he was silent during the night so we only had to listen to his yapping during the day -.-

Still it was awesome ^^ Again, my apologies for the late chapter, I hope everyone liked it ^^ Next chapter will be the last one!

As always, big thanks to Moku-chan!

Also thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, namely: killuanatsume, treasure family, JelpHasNails, CrescentMoonTenshi, Bunnyz-chan, ILoveFanfiction-AnimeAdik, Sirastar, mochiusagi, Nythierian, lumiere, Mokuren no Ken!

**Answer to lumiere:** hehe, well it won't be that spectacular ^^ Kaito probably would XD It won't be in the story though, maybe if I decide to write a continuation, but I haven't made any plans for one :/

Thank you all for your support especially the ones who write reviews to pretty much every chapter ^^ It's always nice to know people like your story!


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